Before Gov. Perdue decides to veto the Health Care Protection Act, she should look at Federal Judge Roger Vinson’s ruling against ObamaCare. It was already clear to me that the ruling freed participating states from ObamaCare’s burdens, but Ilya Shapiro and Michael Cannon argue that the ruling applies nationally, including in North Carolina. This means the tanning tax, the premium-raising “consumer protections,” the political payouts, and every other aspect of the law should stop immediately. As a practical matter, they add,
The government will appeal Vinson?s decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which will probably issue a decision this summer or fall. In the meantime, the White House hopes to further entrench ObamaCare ? so it will be harder to dislodge ? and to cow states into doing the same.
But if the Supreme Court eventually rules as Judge Vinson did, a huge amount of trouble and expense will have been for nothing ? and vast insurance and medical markets will have been uprooted. In so uncertain a legal context, it is simply reckless for financially strapped federal and state governments to pour resources into changing our health care system when those changes may not ultimately pass constitutional muster.
The Health Care Protection Act with its guarantee that North Carolinians cannot be penalized for not buying a product simply reinforces the fundamentals Judge Vinson made clear and adds protections to stop future legislatures from imposing such a penalty either.