The panel at a federal appeals court has ruled against the heart of the Obama Administration’s healthcare reform, bringing into question whether or not Americans will actually be required to purchase a healthcare policy. The next step will be the U.S. Supreme Court.
The panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals was made up of three judges. They were not unanimous, but ruled that Congress had stepped beyond its authority when they passed what is being called the “individual mandate”.
Experts in the healthcare industry are saying that the very heart of the healthcare overhaul and the key to its funding is based on the requirement of all Americans to obtain health insurance or be charged a tax penalty.
Legal observers have been anticipating this struggle and have predicted that the case would eventually end up in the Supreme Court. Now, after the ruling in the court of appeals, it looks like they were right.
Among the primary questions currently being asked is whether the case will have been decided before the November 2012 election, or after. It could also be that the Supreme court will hear the case ahead of November, but will rule after the election.
On the official website of the White House, Stephanie Cutter, a White House senior adviser explained that the individual mandate is indeed constitutional, as it allows those who decide not to obtain a health insurance policy to make a financial decision that impacts all Americans. She stated that “when people without insurance obtain health care they cannot pay for, those with insurance and taxpayers are often left to pick up the tab.”
