A ruling from U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson on Virginia’s health care lawsuit is expected soon.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is challenging the individual mandate provision in the federal health care overhaul, passed in March, that requires most Americans to purchase health insurance starting in 2014. The federal government has argued that the provision lies within Congress’s constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce.
Two judges – one in Michigan and another in Virginia, in a separate case involving Liberty University – have already ruled that the law is constitutional. Whatever the outcome, the Cuccinelli case is expected to be appealed and ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Virginia case is separate from a lawsuit against the health care law brought by 20 states and filed in Florida. A judge is scheduled to hear oral arguments on that case this week.
