The U.S. 11th District Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that portions of President Barack Obama's health care plan were unconstitutional - ruling that the federal government could not require citizen's to buy health insurance or face a penalty.
Virginia is party to a similar lawsuit in the 4th circuit that seeks to repeal what detractors call "Obamacare."
Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli both applauded the court's decision and issued the following statements:
Gov. Bob McDonnell:
“I am pleased by today’s decision. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has correctly determined that the Commerce Clause provides no constitutional basis for a mandate that citizens must purchase a specific commercial product or face a penalty. The individual mandate provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents an unprecedented expansion of federal authority. In issuing their ruling, the court's majority wrote that, “the individual mandate was enacted as a regulatory penalty, not a revenue-raising tax, and cannot be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s power under the Taxing and Spending Clause.” It is clearly in direct contrast to the limited powers granted to our national government by the Constitution.
“The decision by the 11th Circuit is similar to the prior district court ruling on Virginia’s challenge to the federal healthcare law. The 6th Circuit reached a different conclusion, making it apparent that this issue must be heard in an expedited manner by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Department of Justice has resisted all prior requests to fast track this issue to the nation’s highest court. That is disappointing and I again urge the Department of Justice to call for expedited review. This law will impact every American. Regardless of where one stands on the policy and constitutional questions at hand, all should at least be able to agree on the need for certainty, finality and uniform application of the law throughout the country.”
A.G. Ken Cuccinelli:
"I am pleased that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found the individual insurance mandate and penalty unconstitutional. The court determined that the power to force one citizen to purchase a good or service from another is outside the established outer limits of both the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause. The court also ruled that although the president and Congress want to now call the penalty a tax to make it pass constitutional muster, the penalty cannot be sustained under the federal government's taxing authority because the penalty is clearly not a tax.
"I congratulate our fellow attorneys general in this major victory, and although this court is not in our circuit, I am pleased that the judges ruled in favor of the two key arguments that are present in our Virginia suit."
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