ATLANTA — More than two dozen states challenging the health care overhaul urged a U.S. appeals court Wednesday to strike down the Obama administration’s landmark law, arguing it far exceeds the federal government’s powers.
The motion, filed on behalf of 26 states, urges the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to uphold a Florida federal judge’s ruling that the overhaul’s core requirement is unconstitutional. The judge, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, said Congress cannot require nearly all Americans to carry health insurance.
Allowing the law to go forward, the states argued in the 69-page filing, would set a troubling precedent that “would imperil individual liberty, render Congress’s other enumerated powers superfluous, and allow Congress to usurp the general police power reserved to the states.”
So far, three federal judges, all Democratic appointees, have upheld the law. Vinson and a Virginia judge, both Republican appointees, ruled against it. It seems certain that the broad health care challenge will be resolved only by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The filing comes about a month after the Justice Department formally appealed Vinson’s ruling, arguing that Congress had the power to require most people to buy health insurance or face tax penalties because Congress has the authority to regulate interstate business.
