President Barack Obama’s effort to change the face of healthcare into what many have dubbed “Obamacare” faced a major defeat in court Monday when a federal judge in Virgina ruled the new law unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, who was appointed by George W. Bush, is the first to rule against the law, which other judges have upheld. So far, judges appointed by Republican presidents have ruled consistently against Obamacare while Democratic appointees have ruled in favor of it, according to the New York Times.
The major portion of the law Judge Hudson took issue with was the “individual mandate” requiring most Americans purchase health insurance by 2014. Insurance companies have said the only way they could afford giving extra care to additional people, including those previously turned away for expensive pre-existing conditions, was to force healthy people, like college students and recent grads, into buying healthcare they are less likely to use or need while being young and healthy.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is also suing to stop the rollout of Obamacare. His successor, Pam Bondi, reportedly plans to continue fighting the law as well.
Though Hudson’s ruling is a victory for those fighting the expanded healthcare, the judge declined the plaintiff’s request to freeze implementation of Obamacare until the appeals are finished. That means the ruling shouldn’t cause an immediate stop to the law’s rollout process, according to the Times.
Watch an interview by the Virginia attorney general who filed the lawsuit argue in August his suit could kill the entire healthcare bill:
Earlier this year, some UCF student government officials found themselves fighting off efforts from UCF administrators to push for mandatory health insurance for UCF students. SGA members opposed to it argued it wasn’t fair to mandate an additional cost to students.
KnightNews.com will continue following this major breaking news and update you with the latest developments.
