Appeals court upholds PPACA individual mandate

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has upheld the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) individual mandate in Thomas More Law Center v. Barack Obama.

Circuit Judge Boyce F. Martin, Jr., gave the court’s opinion on the whether the minimum coverage provision of the PPACA is constitutionally sound. The minimum coverage provision requires all individual to maintain minimum essential health insurance coverage or pay a penalty.

According to Martin’s opinion, filed June 29, the district court held its decision for two principals:

• The provision regulates economic decisions regarding how to pay for healthcare that have substantial effects on the interstate healthcare market; and
• The provision is essential to the PPACA’s larger regulation of the interstate market for health insurance.

“We find that the minimum coverage provision is a valid exercise of legislative power by Congress under the Commerce Clause and therefore affirm the decision of the [U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit,” wrote Martin.

Read the 64-page opinion here.