Fla. judge strikes down Obama health care overhaul

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Fla. judge strikes down Obama health care overhaul

By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press , Associated Press – 21 mins

ago

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A federal judge declared the Obama administration's health

care overhaul unconstitutional Monday, siding with 26 states that argued people

cannot be required to buy health insurance.

U.S. District Judge Vinson agreed with the states that the new law

violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face

penalties. He went a step further than a previous ruling against the law,

declaring the entire thing unconstitutional if the insurance requirement does

not hold up.

Attorneys for the administration had argued that the states did not have

standing to challenge the law and that the case should be dismissed.

Justice Department spokeswoman Schmaler said Monday the department

strongly disagrees with Vinson's ruling and intends to appeal.

" There is clear and well-established legal precedent that Congress acted within

its constitutional authority in passing this law and we are confident that we

will ultimately prevail on appeal, " she said in a statement.

The final step will almost certainly be the U.S. Supreme Court. Two other

federal judges have already upheld the law and a federal judge in Virginia ruled

the insurance mandate unconstitutional but stopped short of voiding the entire

thing.

At issue was whether the government is reaching beyond its constitutional power

to regulate interstate commerce by requiring citizens to purchase health

insurance or face tax penalties.

Vinson said it is, writing in his 78-page ruling that if the government can

require people to buy health insurance, it could also regulate food the same

way.

" Or, as discussed during oral argument, Congress could require that people buy

and consume broccoli at regular intervals, " he wrote, " Not only because the

required purchases will positively impact interstate commerce, but also because

people who eat healthier tend to be healthier, and are thus more productive and

put less of a strain on the health care system. "

Obama administration attorneys had argued that health care is part of the

interstate commerce system. They said the government can levy a tax penalty on

Americans who decide not to purchase health insurance because all Americans are

consumers of medical care.

But attorneys for the states said the administration was essentially coercing

the states into participating in the overhaul by holding billions of Medicaid

dollars hostage. The states also said the federal government is violating the

Constitution by forcing a mandate on the states without providing money to pay

for it.

Opponents of the health overhaul praised the decision within minutes of its

release Monday afternoon. House Speaker Boehner said it shows Senate

Democrats should follow a House vote to repeal the law.

" Today's decision affirms the view, held by most of the states and a majority of

the American people, that the federal government should not be in the business

of forcing you to buy health insurance and punishing you if you don't, " he said

in a statement.

Florida's former Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum filed the lawsuit

just minutes after President Barack Obama signed the 10-year, $938 billion

health care bill into law in March. He chose a court in Pensacola, one of

Florida's most conservative cities. The nation's most influential small business

lobby, the National Federation of Independent Business, also joined.

Officials in the states that sued lauded Vinson's decision. Almost all of them

have Republican governors, attorneys general or both.

" In making his ruling, the judge has confirmed what many of us knew from the

start; ObamaCare is an unprecedented and unconstitutional infringement on the

liberty of the American people, " Florida GOP Gov. Rick said in a

statement.

Other states that joined the suit are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado,

Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi,

Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South

Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

___

Associated Press Writer Curt in Miami contributed to this report.