In what could ultimately lead to the judicial repeal of Obamacare in its entirety, the National Federation of Independent Business today filed a petition for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court to review the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision severing Obamacare’s individual mandate provision from the rest of the statute.
The following statements from legal and health care experts at The Heartland Institute may be used for attribution. For further comments or to book these experts on your program, refer to the contact information below or contact Tammy Nash at [email protected] or 312/377-4000. After hours, contact Jim Lakely at [email protected] or 312/731-9364.
“If the Supreme Court grants the NFIB petition and goes on to reverse the 11th Circuit’s severance decision, the entire Obamacare statute would be declared invalid. All of it.
“The 11th Circuit held the individual mandate unconstitutional because it violated the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution. But the court severed that provision from the rest of the law, leaving it intact. That means, among other things, the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which will ration health care for the elderly, remains intact and would go into effect even if the Supreme Court affirms the 11th Circuit decision on the individual mandate.
“Other provisions of Obamacare, already effective, including coverage for adult children up to age 26 and free preventive services, also remain in effect. A study announced yesterday attributed to provisions like these and other upcoming ones a 9 percent increase in the cost of employer-supplied private health insurance.”
Maureen Martin
Senior Fellow for Legal Affairs
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
“It is absolutely essential that the Supreme Court take up the matter of severability along with giving us its ruling on the individual mandate within President Obama’s health law. The Court must decide this as a whole issue, as soon as possible, to end the uncertainty that has continued to cloud economic decisions by thousands of American small businesses and firms.
“States, firms, and citizens need to know what to expect, and legislators will soon learn if there is any limit to the power granted to the Congress via the Commerce Clause, or whether Washington can command anyone to purchase any product for the entirety of their life.”
Benjamin Domenech
Research Fellow, The Heartland Institute
Managing Editor, Health Care News
[email protected]
The Heartland Institute is a 27-year-old national nonprofit organization with offices in Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; Austin, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida; and Columbus, Ohio. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.
Maureen Martin, a former legal fellow at The Heartland Institute, passed away on February 5, 2013.
Benjamin Domenech is the founder and publisher of The Federalist and a senior fellow at The Heartland Institute.
