A federal judge in Virginia on Monday ruled that President Obama cannot require people to buy health insurance under a health care reform law passed in March.
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two other judges in Virginia and Michigan.
The lawsuit on which Hudson ruled was filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican, who claimed that a provision in the health care law that requires people to buy health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional. The Virginia General Assembly passed a law this year barring the federal government from requiring state residents to buy insurance.
A separate lawsuit challenging the health care law is pending in Florida.
Both sides in the Virginia case expect the U.S. Supreme Court to have the final word on the health care law.
