Court rules against health care mandate
A federal appeals court has ruled against the portion of the federal health care law that requires all Americans to buy health insurance, a move Gov. Paul LePage is applauding.
In a 2-1 decision, the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said Congress does not have the authority to mandate that all residents buy health insurance, siding with 26 states, Maine included, who filed a lawsuit against the reform, according to The Associated Press. The decision reviewed a February ruling by a U.S. District judge that called for the law to be voided; the appeals court, however, did not agree that the entire law should be ruled unconstitutional, just the mandate that requires all American to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties. A Cincinnati federal appeals court previously upheld the mandate, while a Richmond court has heard challenges to the law.
LePage said the ruling advances states' efforts to protect "liberties" under the U.S. Constitution. The Obama administration can appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, which could hear the case early next year and make a decision by June, according to the Tribune Washington Bureau.
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