States, NFIB Challenge Constitutionality of Health Care Law

justice.JPGThe National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a small business advocacy group, and seven additional states have joined a now 20-state lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, “PPACA”). According to the amended complaint, (pdf) the plaintiffs allege, among other things, that the provisions of PPACA requiring individuals to purchase health insurance violate both the Constitution’s commerce clause and the Fifth Amendment. Specifically, as stated in NFIB’s overview (pdf) of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that “the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution does not give Congress authority to regulate inactivity. Requiring every individual to purchase health insurance or face a fine is an unprecedented and unconstitutional act of Congress.” They claim that “[i]f the individual mandate is upheld, there would be little, if any, limits on what the federal government could require individuals and businesses to do.” In addition, the NFIB asserts that “the right to make personal healthcare decisions without federal government interference is protected by the Fifth Amendment protection of liberty. And forcing individuals to purchase healthcare coverage or face a fine deprives citizens of their property rights, also protected by the Fifth Amendment.”

The individual mandate is not the only provision subject to constitutional scrutiny in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs allege that the PPACA is also unconstitutional because it forces states to operate “a wholly refashioned Medicaid program.” The suit asserts that the law converts Medicaid from a federal-state partnership into a “federally-imposed universal healthcare regime, in which the discretion of the Plaintiff States has been removed and new requirements and expenses forced upon them in derogation of their sovereignty. In so doing, the Act violates the Ninth and Tenth Amendments and the Constitution’s principles of federalism.”

In a statement, Dan Danner, president and CEO of the NFIB, said: “The fundamental mission of our organization is to promote and protect the rights of small businesses and the self-employed to own, operate and grow their business, and this healthcare law directly undermines this core value.”

The states named as plaintiffs in the suit are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Washington state.

This entry was written by Ilyse Schuman.

Photo credit: evirgen

Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.