Health Care Financing Reform (131): Sixth Circuit Narrowly Upholds Affordable Care Act

By a vote of 2-1 the Sixth Circuit has upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

A three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has rendered its decision in Obama v. Thomas More Law Center.  On the central question presented by the case – the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act under the Commerce Clause – each of the judges wrote separate opinions.  Two of the judges – Judge Boyce F. Martin, and Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, ruled in favor of the law.  Judge Martin simply found that Congress has the authority under the Constitution to enact this law.  Judge Sutton found that while the Act is constitutional on its face, in future cases it might be found unconstitutional as applied to certain individuals.  Judge James Graham, a district court judge sitting by assignment, dissented and would have found the law unconstitutional in all of its applications.

I will post a more detailed report this evening.

Professor Huhn has taught Constitutional Law at the University of Akron for over a quarter century. You may access his websites on Constitutional Law and Health Care Financing Reform for additional materials and information about those subjects. Drafts of his scholarly work are available from his author page at ssrn: http://ssrn.com/author=83790

Tagged as: affordable care act, commerce clause, constitutionality of PPACA, health care financing reform, health care reform, health insurance reform