PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A U.S. appeals court Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling to toss a healthcare reform challenge filed by a New Jersey doctor and one of his patients.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in upholding a lower court decision, ruled he doctor and patient failed to show they would suffer "an actual or imminent 'concrete and particularized' injury," The Hill reported.
The lawsuit, filed a day after the healthcare reform bill was enacted in 2010, argued that Dr. Mario Criscito and "Patient Roe" would be harmed by the new healthcare law because the anonymous patient pays directly and doesn't rely on insurance.
The suit argued that the law's mandate requiring that most people have insurance or pay a penalty "will have a direct, substantial impact upon Dr. Criscito's medical practice, the manner in which he may, or may not, seek payment for his professional services and the manner in which he may render treatment to his patients."
