All sides seek Supreme Court review of Obamacare

Today the Obama administration filed a petition for Supreme Court review of this summer’s decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Florida v. HHS, one of the major challenges to the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.”  Relying heavily on CIR’s 2000 Commerce Clause victory U.S. v. Morrison, the Eleventh Circuit had ruled that the act’s requirement that citizens buy health insurance exceeded Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause and was unconstitutional.  CIR had filed an influential amicus brief in the Eleventh Circuit in this case.

Earlier this week, the private plaintiffs in the case, represented by former CIR board member Michael Carvin, filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking review of other parts of the Eleventh Circuit’s decision, and the state plaintiffs subsequently filed their own petition for review.

Because another Court of Appeals has upheld Obamacare, and the Supreme Court has a strong interest in resolving inconsistent appellate-court rulings, the odds are high that the Supreme Court will grant the petitions and hear the case.