CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER

For Immediate Release: October 14, 2010
Contact: Doug Pennington, Press Secretary
(202) 296-6889 x303
pennington@theusconstitution.org

Federal Judge Narrows Health Care Reform Suit, Refuses to Dismiss Lawsuit Entirely; Constitutional Accountability Center Responds

CAC President Doug Kendall: “We are happy that Judge Vinson narrowed this lawsuit today, but what he really should have done is dismiss it altogether.”

Washington, DC – Today, in a preliminary ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson rejected many of the claims initiated by state Attorneys General against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but refused to dismiss one claim challenging the expansion of the Medicaid program and another challenging the legislation’s minimum coverage provision.

“We are happy that Judge Vinson narrowed this lawsuit today,” CAC’s President Kendall said, “but what he really should have done is dismiss it altogether.” “In particular,” said Kendall, “the idea that expanding Medicaid to cover millions of Americans that desperately need health care is somehow “coercive” on the states is ludicrous.” According to Kendall:

Judge Vinson recognizes what he calls the “simple and unassailable fact” that state participation in Medicaid is “entirely voluntary.” He also recognizes that the claim advanced by the plaintiffs has never been applied to strike down any provision of any federal law. Judge Vinson’s refusal to take the next step and dismiss this claim entirely is baffling and disturbing.

Read CAC’s Issue Brief, “The States, Health Care Reform, and the Constitution,” here.

“Judge Vinson’s refusal to dismiss the claim against the Affordable Care Act’s minimum coverage provision was also deeply troubling,” said CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra. “Regulating such behavior is clearly within Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause. The decision not to buy health insurance is a profoundly economic act. The people who do so are making an economic decision to self-insure,” Wydra said.

Constitutional Accountability Center plans to file an amicus brief in the next stage of the proceedings on behalf of a group of state legislators who seek to carry on their work protecting the health and security of their states’ citizens.

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Resources:

CAC Issue Brief, “The States, Health Care Reform, and the Constitution”: 
http://theusconstitution.org/think-tank/issue-brief/states-health-care-reform-and-constitution-0

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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