Health law gets mixed reception in Ohio federal appeals court

A panel of federal appellate judges heard oral arguments Wednesday regarding whether the Obama administration can — under the Constitution — require Americans to buy health insurance. A key issue for the judges to determine is whether the plaintiffs have legal standing to sue after one said she recently purchased coverage from her employer. The case was initially brought by the Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center.

The New York Times: Second Appellate Panel Hears Arguments On Health Care Law
A panel of federal appellate judges seemed eager on Wednesday to rule on whether it is constitutional for the Obama health care law to require that uninsured Americans buy medical coverage. But the judges must first decide whether the plaintiffs still have legal standing to sue, after one disclosed that she recently bought health insurance from her employer (Sack, 6/1).

The Wall Street Journal: Judges Give Health Overhaul Mixed Reception
During 90 minutes of oral arguments, a three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pressed lawyers for both the Obama administration and the challengers in the case, four individuals from Michigan and the Thomas More Law Center, a conservative legal organization (Kendall, 6/2).

The Associated Press: Obama Health Overhaul Argued In Ohio Federal Court
An attorney urged a federal appeals panel in arguments Wednesday to take a stand against expansion of federal power by rejecting President Barack Obama's health care overhaul (Sewell, 6/1).

Politico: Health Reform Lawsuit Jeopardy?
A federal appeals panel questioned Wednesday whether a conservative legal center's challenge to the health law is still valid after the revelation last week that a key plaintiff had already bought health insurance. The Thomas More Law Center told the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that it has a right to bring its suit — which it filed with several individuals — challenging the constitutionality of the law's requirement to buy insurance. The group asked the court to overturn a lower court's decision to uphold the law (Haberkorn, 6/1).

CNN: Federal Court Expresses Concern Over Health Care Reform Law
A federal appeals court in Cincinnati expressed concern Wednesday over the sweeping health care reform law championed by President Barack Obama, especially the requirement that Americans purchase health insurance in coming years or face financial penalties. The case could turn on either a broad reading of congressional power to regulate the health insurance market, or more mundane procedural issues. It is one of 30-some legal challenges nationwide to the health care reform effort, an issue that is certain to ultimately reach the Supreme Court, perhaps by year's end (Mears, 6/1).

Politico Pro: Judge's Daughter Is Pro-Repeal Republican
One of the federal appeals court judges who will decide whether to overturn a ruling striking down President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is the father of a House Republican who campaigned on repealing the law. Judge Joel F. Dubina is chief judge of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and will preside over oral arguments in the case next week. The federal government will ask the panel, which will include two other judges, to overturn Florida Judge Roger Vinson's January decision to strike down the whole law because he found the requirement to buy insurance unconstitutional (Haberkorn, 6/2).

In related developments —

San Francisco Chronicle: Virginia Says U.S. Court Has Authority in Health Care Cases
The state of Virginia argued that the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond has authority to rule on the constitutionality of the Obama administration's health care plan before the government imposes a tax on uninsured people. The state, responding to questions from the three-judge appeals panel reviewing two lower-court rulings on the health care law, said in a filing today that the court has jurisdiction over the case because Virginia has no "alternative legal way" to challenge to the law (5/31).

Meanwhile, Kaiser Health News is tracking the status of 26 federal lawsuits challenging the health law in its Scoreboard: Tracking Health Law Court Challenges, updated 6/1.