This decision will attract a great deal of attention. It should. Today, the Eleventh Circuit held that the individual insurance mandate contained in the massive 2010 health care legislation violates the federal constitution because Congress acted beyond its authority under the Commerce Clause.

In the case, Florida’s Attorney General, joined by dozens of other states, has challenged the health care legislation on two primary fronts. First, the states challenge that the Commerce Clause does not give Congress the power to require everyone to purchase health care insurance or face a penalty. Second, the states challenge the legislation’s expansion of the Medicaid program as an improper expenditure under the Spending Clause, essentially arguing that states are being coerced to participate in a program that is becoming destructively expensive.

The district court agreed with the states on their Commerce Clause challenge to the individual mandate but rejected the Spending Clause challenge regarding the Medicaid expansion. You can read the district court’s decision here.

In a mere 305 pages of opinions, a divided panel of the Eleventh Circuit agreed that the individual mandate is unconstitutional but, unlike the district court, the appellate court held that the mandate may be severed from the remainder of the legislation.

As a result, the mandate has been struck down, but “Obamacare” otherwise remains the law.

Of lesser notoriety but also of great concern to the states, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision holding that the legislation’s Medicaid expansion did not violate the Spending Clause.

Chief Judge Dubina and Judge Hull authored the majority’s 207-page opinion. Judge Marcus authored an 84-page partial dissent. He would have held the mandate to be constitutional under the Commerce Clause.

...posted by  ⊥  August 12th, 2011 ⊥  2:41 PM  ⊥   ⊥