Federal court tosses Virginia federal health care lawsuits
by Dara Kam | September 8th, 2011A federal appeals court tossed two Virginia lawsuits Thursday challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law’s insurance requirement, also known as the individual mandate.
The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed both lawsuits, ruling that neither the state’s attorney general Ken Cuccinelli or Liberty University had standing to challenge the law. The three-judge panel’s decision overturned a lower-court ruling invalidating the insurance requirement.
Thursday’s ruling now leaves an even score on other appellate rulings on the health care law. First, a three-judge panel in Cincinnati ruled in favor of the law. A more recent decision last month from an Atlanta three-judge panel ruling in a multi-state lawsuit headed by Florida that the individual mandate portion of the law was unconstitutional but left the remainder of the law intact.
And it heightens the importance of the Florida lawsuit, which observers say will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gov. Rick Scott, who made his fortune in the health care industry, launched his foray into politics more than two years ago with an effort to keep the proposed health care reforms from going into law. Scott is an outspoken critic of the law and once said fighting against it was one of the reasons he ran for governor.
Yesterday, lawmakers approved a request from Scott’s administration for a $3.4 billion grant drawn from the federal Affordable Care Act. The Legislative Budget Commission signed off on taking the cash to provide home visitation services to at-risk families.
Tags: federal health care law, health care, health care law, Health Reform, Rick Scott, U.S. Supreme Court
September 8th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
The Tea Party has spoken so listen good,
We’ll send Obama back to the ‘hood!
September 8th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Tea Lady Darlin’ I said it before sweetness, you need a strong stiff tonic and a matching man!
September 8th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
But you’re not a bigot, right Tea Lady.
September 8th, 2011 at 6:57 pm
So Tea Lady is rapping these days? What next?
September 9th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
This trailer trash, chicken s..t Tea Lady needs to hide in her trailer. President Obama is a Harvard Law School and a Constitution Professor before he entered politics. You on the other hand probably did not graduate from high school. You uneducated, red neck, racist bastard! Its trash like you why educated people like my friends, family and I have left the Republican party.
September 9th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
well i don’t think Tea Party rapping these days, right tea lady.
we must accept whatever have been done.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:30 am
The TEA-TWITS can’t rap. That would be multi-culturalism and they like to stick with their own. The only “hood” they have is on their foreign made car!