A divided panel of three judges today sided with Kansas and 25 other states, which had argued a key provision in the new health reform law is unconstitutional.
The 2-to-1 decision marks a major blow to the Obama administration in its legal battle over the health law. But in the ruling, the court also disagreed with a lower court’s ruling and will allow other provisions of the law to remain “legally operative.”
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt praised the decision.
“Today’s decision is a victory for Kansas and our 25 partner states who are together challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law,” Schmidt said. “The Constitution created a federal government of limited, enumerated powers and did not grant to the federal government an unlimited general police power to do whatever it wishes.”
“While today’s decision is not the final word on the subject, our victory today makes Supreme Court review of the law almost certain. We will continue our strong advocacy for limited constitutional government,” he said.
Brownback comments
Gov. Sam Brownback also issued a statement in support of the decision.
“The decision confirms what I have believed all along, that Congress does not have the power to compel Kansans to participate in healthcare finance schemes against their will,” Brownback said.
He also connected the court ruling to his decision earlier in the week to reject a $31.5 million federal grant awarded to the Kansas Insurance Department to help fund the development of an online insurance purchasing exchange. Brownback said he ended the grant and ordered the return of the approximately $470,000 that had been spent to protect “the freedom of Kansans to make their own healthcare decisions.”
Despite the loss of grant funds, insurance department officials have said they plan to continue their work to plan the exchange. The next meeting of the heads of the department’s exchange work groups is scheduled for Thursday.
Samir Arif, a spokesman for Brownback, said in an email to the KHI News Service that the administration is aware of the department’s intention to continue with the planning process and has not attempted to halt it. But he said any federal grants sought in the future to fund the exchange — which must be up and running by January of 2014 — will be “exhaustively studied” to ensure they give state policymakers “maximum flexibility” to craft a Kansas-specific system.
Case headed to Supreme Court
The case that produced today’s ruling was the fourth to reach an appeals court. The first case, which was decided in June, upheld the law.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta found the so-called “individual mandate” to be unconstitutional. The mandate would require most Americans to purchase health insurance. It’s scheduled to become effective Jan. 1, 2014, along with several other major provisions of the reform law.
The mandate is the provision that has sparked the most vocal opposition to the Affordable Care Act, including from some key Republicans in the Kansas Legislature.
Because of the competing federal court decisions, the U.S Supreme Court will ultimately have to rule on the reform law’s constitutionality.
Watch this space for continuing coverage of the decision.