US appeals court upholds Obama's health care law

A US court upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare
© AFP/Getty Images/File Justin Sullivan

CHICAGO (AFP) – President Barack Obama won a legal victory in the battle over his controversial health care law Wednesday when a federal appeals court in Ohio upheld the constitutionality of a key provision.

It was the first ruling at the appeals court level in the hotly contested legal battle over one of Obama’s key domestic achievements.

The law, extending coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans, has been bitterly debated and challenged across the United States since Congress passed it last year.

Some 16 states have passed binding legislation opposing elements of the health reform bill and the attorneys general of 27 states have joined a lawsuit in Florida challenging its constitutionality.

A further 16 cases are pending in the federal courts.

Opponents say a key provision known as the “individual mandate” exceeds Congress’s regulatory powers by requiring Americans to either purchase health insurance by 2014 or pay a fine.

But the Sixth Circuit appeals court disagreed in a 2-1 ruling against a conservative law firm and four Michigan residents who challenged the mandate.

“We find that the minimum coverage provision is a valid exercise of legislative power by Congress under the Commerce Clause and therefore affirm the decision of the district court,” Judge Martin Boyce wrote in a 64-page opinion.

The US Justice Department welcomed the ruling and vowed to continue to “vigorously defend the health care reform statute.”

“Throughout history, there have been similar challenges to other landmark legislation such as the Social Security Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act, and all of those challenges failed,” spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said.

“We believe these challenges to health reform will also fail.”

Legal experts predict that the US Supreme Court will ultimately decide the matter. But that could take months or even years.

On April 25, the Supreme Court rejected Virginia’s request to immediately rule on whether the law is constitutional.

It marked the second time the nation’s highest court denied a request from critics of the law for an expedited review, without the issue being examined thoroughly in appeals courts first.

Two Republican-appointed federal judges — in Virginia and Florida — have already declared the law unconstitutional.

Three Democratic appointees have upheld the law — in Michigan, Virginia and the US capital Washington.

But in a sign that the rulings may no longer be largely split along party lines, one of the two Ohio appeals courts judges ruling in favor of the law was appointed by Republican president George W. Bush.

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