The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to appeal the Eleventh Circuit Obamacare ruling. The NFIB case represents not only the organization but also 26 states, often referred to as the Florida lawsuit.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had announced earlier in the week that it was not going to request the Eleventh Circuit to review en banc the decision made by the appellate court that found the individual mandate unconstitutional. Such action would have allowed the DOJ an opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court but the NFIB beat them to it.
Obviously, the NFIB is not appealing the ruling finding the individual mandate unconstitutional but rather the decision that the individual mandate could be severed from the rest of Obamacare. They argue that “Congress itself deemed [the mandate] ‘essential’ to the Act’s new insurance regulations,” and therefore, it should not be severed and the decision should be overruled.
So far, the Eleventh, Sixth, and Fourth Circuit Court cases challenging Obamacare have had significantly different outcomes. Thus, the Supreme Court should take on Obamacare to once and for all resolve the differing opinions of the appellate courts – hopefully, siding with rationality and finding the entire intrusive healthcare law unconstitutional.
Leave a Comment