Publications: Healthcare Reform - Recent Court Decision Should Not Affect Current Employer Mandates

Employee Benefits Update

02/01/11

In December, we reported that a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia had declared unconstitutional the healthcare reform law’s requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance.

Well, it has been done again, this time by a Federal judge sitting in Florida. Moreover, the judge in the new case has held that the unconstitutional piece of the healthcare reform law cannot be severed from the rest of it, so the entire healthcare reform law is unconstitutional. The court writes:

"In the final analysis, this Act has been analogized to a finely crafted watch, and that seems to fit. It has approximately 450 separate pieces, but one essential piece (the individual mandate) is defective and must be removed. It cannot function as originally designed. There are simply too many moving parts in the Act and too many provisions dependent (directly and indirectly) on the individual mandate."

Pending appeal, the court declined to halt implementation of the healthcare reform law. This means that, for now, regulations will continue to be written, and employers should continue to comply with the changes so far effective.

We will follow this case as it makes its way through the appeal process. In the meantime, if you have questions about how the reform law affects your benefit plans, please contact your Ungaretti & Harris lawyer.