Federal Judge Upholds Obamacare

Detroit Free Press:

A federal judge in Detroit today upheld key provisions of President Barack Obama’s landmark health reform law.

In a 20-page decision, U.S. District Judge George Steeh refused to issue an injunction to halt preparations for putting federal health reforms into full effect in 2014, a law known as the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in March. Steeh also dismissed the major points of the suit — requiring Americans to buy health insurance and penalizing those who don’t starting in 2014.

Steeh is the first judge nationally to rule on accusations that Congress exceeded its constitutional authority by requiring most people to buy health insurance or face penalities.

The Thomas More Law Center, an Ann Arbor-based Christian legal center which sued along with four plaintiffs, said it plans to appeal the decision.

“I think it’s important that this decision be reversed to prevent Congress from overreaching the way it did in passing the original mandate,” said law center attorney Robert Muise. He predicted the case will wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court. His clients opposed being forced to buy health insurance.

Nation-wide, several dozen lawsuits have been filed to stop the reforms. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox and 19 other state attorney generals brought one of the challenges, which is set for oral arguments in Florida Dec. 16, according to Cox spokeswoman Joy Yearout.

The attorney generals’ suit argues that the federal government can’t force people to buy a product merely because they are U.S. citizens. But federal attorneys say Congress can regulate interstate commerce and has imposed laws for more than 200 years requiring men to buy muskets and ammunition, for example.

Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said the department was pleased with the decision and added that it “will continue to vigorously defend this law in ongoing litigation.”

Marjorie Mitchell, executive director of the Michigan Universal Health Care Network, the state’s most active proponent of federal health reforms, said Steeh’s ruling “gives me some hope … all the cases are thrown out. We need this health care reform.”

The law was passed to provide health insurance to millions of uninsured people, including 1.3 in Michigan, and to make it more affordable and easier to understand.

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute, health care reforms will benefit 1.3 million people in Michigan who do not have insurance and lower health care costs for another 459,000 Michigan citizens through a national insurance exchange.