This was a quiet win, and not as significant as the Sixth Circuit's ruling, but another challenge to the Affordable Care Act was turned away last week.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled [pdf] that it was bound by the "Sixth Circuit?s majority ruling in Thomas More that the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a valid exercise of legislative power by Congress under the Commerce Clause."
The court had previously dismissed three counts brought by the plaintiffs, a conservative group called the U.S. Citizens Association, and was waiting for action by the Sixth Circuit on the fourth, the determination of whether the individual mandate is constitutional. The highlight of this case was a novel argument brought by plaintiffs.
While preserving the most critical count in the anti-ACA lawsuit, Dowd dismissed 3 other counts alleging that the law deprived the plaintiffs of due process, violated their privacy, and infringed on their "freedom of expressive and intimate association." The last count is perhaps the most novel seen in the various federal lawsuits. The US Citizens Association maintains that the law will force its members to associate with health insurers and network medical providers they wish to avoid and hinder them from associating with clinicians who have nothing to do with insurers but who instead accept direct payment from patients.
That last count was quickly dismissed. This isn't a huge win for the ACA; the big win was the Sixth Circuit's which essentially dictated this one. But it's one more drop in the bucket.
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