Cincinnati appeals court upholds Obama's health-reform plan

Dan Horn

President Barack Obama’s health care reform law won a major victory Wednesday when a Cincinnati appeals court ruled that the government could require people to buy health insurance without violating the U.S. Constitution.

The decision by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is the first from a federal appeals court on the health care reform law and likely moves the case closer to a showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The three-judge panel voted 2-1 to uphold the law, with one of the court’s most liberal members, Judge Boyce Martin Jr., and one of its most conservative, Judge Jeffrey Sutton, joining in the majority. Sutton expressed reservations about the law, but agreed with Martin that the requirement to purchase health insurance falls under Congress’ powers under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“We find that the minimum coverage provision is a valid exercise of legislative power,” the judges wrote.

The court’s majority rejected claims that the law, known as the Affordable Care Act, is an unconstitutional and expensive intrusion into the lives of millions of Americans.

But the dissenting judge, James Graham, said the law goes beyond what the constitution allows and could, if it is allowed to stand, lead to greater government intrusions in the future.

“If the exercise of power is allowed and the mandate upheld, it is difficult to see what the limits on Congress’s Commerce Clause authority would be,” Graham wrote. “What aspect of human activity would escape federal power?”

The decision Wednesday is based on a case from Michigan and is one of several now winding through the federal courts. A federal appeals court in Virginia has heard arguments in a similar case, but the 6th Circuit is the first to issue a ruling.

Both opponents and supporters of the law expect the U.S. Supreme Court will get the last word, possibly within the next year or two.