Federal judge upholds ObamaCare mandate

In the second such ruling, a federal judge in Virginia has declared the federal mandate to purchase insurance constitutional.  Jude Norman Moon, a Clinton appointee as noted by The Hill, refused Liberty University’s challenge on the basis of ObamaCare funding for abortion, writing that since everyone at some time will seek health care services, the decision whether to buy insurance has a significant impact on interstate commerce and falls under the jurisdiction of Congress:

“I hold that there is a rational basis for Congress to conclude that individuals’ decisions about how and when to pay for health care are activities that in the aggregate substantially affect the interstate health care market,” ruled U.S. District Judge Norman Moon, a Clinton appointee. “Nearly everyone will require health care services at some point in their lifetimes, and it is not always possible to predict when one will be afflicted by illness or injury and require care.…

“Far from ‘inactivity,’ by choosing to forgo insurance, Plaintiffs are making an economic decision to try to pay for health care services later, out of pocket, rather than now, through the purchase of insurance. As Congress found, the total incidence of these economic decisions has a substantial impact on the national market for health care by collectively shifting billions of dollars on to other market participants and driving up the prices of insurance policies.”

A federal judge in Michigan ruled the same way last month. And in August, a California federal judge rejected a similar lawsuit on the grounds that the plaintiffs had no standing.

It’s an interesting ruling.  The rule of law in this nation has usually been based on acts of commission, not acts of omission (with some notable exceptions, such as refusing to pay taxes).  Refusing to take part in a market, or to use the court’s construct, choosing when to participate in that market, has suddenly become a federal jurisdiction.  It’s even more interesting when considering the fact that Congress had barred interstate commerce in health insurance, which is one of the reasons we have some states with few insurance choices for consumers.

The White House celebrated the decision as yet another vindication of ObamaCare.  However, this case and the two previous cases are merely the warm-up act.  The lawsuits brought by the states will be the main show, and even those won’t matter as much until the initial rulings get appealed.  The question of Congressional jurisdiction and limitation of power will only get settled by the Supreme Court — assuming that a new President and Congress haven’t overturned ObamaCare before the Supremes get the chance to reach a verdict.