government
Another judge rules in favor of health reform law
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 28, 2011
In a legal victory for the Obama administration, a federal judge has upheld the constitutionality of the national health system reform law.
Judge Gladys Kessler, on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled Feb. 22 that Congress acted within its authority when it mandated that people buy health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014. In doing so, Kessler dismissed a lawsuit against the reform statute filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative Christian legal group.
Kessler's decision made her one of three federal judges who have upheld the health law in separate rulings. Two other federal judges have ruled all or part of the law as unconstitutional.
More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the health reform law since it was enacted in 2010. Judges have granted the government's motion to dismiss most of the cases, although those decisions are being appealed. Legal experts predict that the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately decide the matter.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/02/28/gvbf0228.htm.
