RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A U.S. appeals court in Richmond, Va., Thursday rejected Virginia's challenge to the individual requirement to have health insurance under healthcare reform.
The ruling is a major victory for the Obama administration.
The three-judge appeals court panel unanimously said Virginia had no standing to challenge the individual federal mandate simply because it did not conform to state law and ordered a federal judge who had ruled against the mandate to dismiss the case.
Though the Richmond ruling agrees with another out of a U.S. appeals court in Cincinnati, it conflicts with an appeals court ruling out of Atlanta last month, making it all the more likely the debate will reach the U.S. Supreme Court soon.
The Richmond ruling focused on "standing" -- whether Virginia could show it suffered an injury and therefore had standing to file suit.
Writing for the panel, Circuit Judge Diana Gribbon Motz said, "Standing here turns on whether Virginia has suffered the necessary 'injury in fact.' To satisfy that requirement, Virginia must demonstrate that the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act [invades] its 'legally protected interest,' in a manner that is both 'concrete and particularized' and 'actual or imminent.'"
She said "the individual mandate imposes none of the obligations on Virginia that, in other cases, have provided a state standing to challenge a federal statute. Thus, the individual mandate does not directly burden Virginia."
The Virginia Legislature recently enacted the Virginia Healthcare Freedom Act to counter the federal mandate.
"The [state law] merely declares, without legal effect, that the federal government cannot apply insurance mandates to Virginia's citizens," the opinion said. "This non-binding declaration does not create any genuine conflict with the individual mandate, and thus creates no sovereign interest capable of producing injury-in-fact."
Virginia filed its suit on March 23, 2010, the day President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. The state law was signed by the governor the next day.
Besides Virginia, at least 26 states are challenging the law's constitutionality, asserting Congress cannot force people to purchase coverage in an attempt to control costs.
