Liberty University loses Supreme Court challenge on Obamacare mandate
The US Supreme Court rejected Monday a lawsuit by Liberty University challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s, or “Obamacare’s,” mandate that employers with more than 50 employees provide health insurance for its employees.
photo LaDawna Howard via Flickr
Liberty argued that Congress does not have the authority to require that employers provide health insurance.
In a challenge to the Obamacare individual mandate to purchase insurance, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress does not have the power to require individuals to carry health insurance under the Commerce Clause, but it does have the authority under Congress’ taxing power.
If the Commerce Clause does not give Congress the power to require individuals to purchase health insurance, then it should not give Congress the power to require employers to provide health insurance, Liberty reasoned in its arguments.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the Fourth Circuit rejected that argument, ruling that the Commerce Clause has been recognized by the courts as providing Congress with the authority to regulate employee compensation.
“We find that the employer mandate is no monster,” Judges Diana Gribbon Motz, Andre M. Davis and James A. Wynn Jr. wrote.
“Rather, it is simply another example of Congress’s longstanding authority to regulate employee compensation offered and paid for by employers in interstate commerce.”
President Obama has delayed the employer mandate until 2014, but more lawsuits will likely follow once the penalties are heaped upon employers not abiding by the mandate.
Liberty also has a case pending for a suit against the ACA’s birth control mandate.
photo Andrew Aliferis via Flickr
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