As Rick noted, Federal Judge Henry Hudson returned from the uncharted territory of individual insurance mandates and declared they really do violate the Constitution.


The unchecked expansion of congressional power to the limits suggested by the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers. At its core, this dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance–or crafting a scheme of universal health insurance coverage–it’s about an individual’s right to choose to participate.

Judge Hudson cut this part of the law from the rest because the Congress made a hash of the process:


The final element of the analysis is difficult to apply given the haste with which the final version of the 2,700 page bill was rushed to the floor for a Christmas Eve vote. It would be virtually impossible within the present record to determine whether Congress would have passed this bill, encompassing a wide variety of topics related and unrelated to health care without, Section 1501. … Moreover, without the benefit of extensive expert testimony and significant supplementation of the record, this Court cannot determine what, if any, portion of the bill would not be able to survive independently.