August 12, 2011—A federal appeals court has struck down the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that all Americans purchase health insurance or pay a penalty, but said the rest of the law—including its expansion of the 340B program and Medicaid—could stand.
Today’s divided ruling by a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals increases the probability that the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final say on the so called “individual mandate” issue. Last June, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the insurance requirement is constitutional.
The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments in May in a third case challenging the individual mandate’s constitutionality.