A federal judge in Florida ruled this week that a law requiring Americans to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. Florida’s attorney general filed the challenge to the law and was joined by 25 other states.
By contrast, in two other challenges last year, federal judges in Michigan and Florida both ruled that requiring Americans to purchase health insurance does not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Many argue that since the clause only allows for Congress to regulate foreign, state and Native American tribal commerce, that any mandate of individual commerce is a constitutional violation.
The opposing rulings fuel the likelihood of a historic debate before the Supreme Court to determine the future of American healthcare.
