Supreme Court declines bid to speed Va. health-care appeal

By: Jim Nolan | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: April 25, 2011
Updated: April 25, 2011 - 11:16 AM

Virginia's lawsuit against federal health-care legislation will not be heard directly by the U.S. Supreme Court, the court ruled today.

The high court denied Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's petition to expedite Virginia's case against President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As a result, the lawsuit will continue on its current path to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is scheduled to hear the case on May 10 in Richmond.

The Supreme Court rarely grants the petitions to bypass appellate review, but Cuccinelli had argued that Virginia and other states and businesses are being forced to spend millions of dollars to prepare and implement the law, making a swift disposition of the matter urgent and in the interest of all parties.

"Asking the court to expedite our lawsuit was about removing this crippling and costly uncertainty as quickly as possible," Cuccinelli said in a statement, describing the ruling as "disappointing," but "not surprising."

The attorney general said he was gratified that both Republicans and Democrats in Virginia supported his efforts to expedite the case.

More than two dozen other states, led by Republican attorneys general, are also parties to lawsuits against the health-care law. Appellate hearings are scheduled in three courts in May and June. On this schedule, the case could be decided by the Supreme Court by summer, 2012.

Virginia is challenging the constitutionality of the law, specifically the insurance mandate provision, which would require nearly every American to obtain health insurance by 2014 or face a penalty. The commonwealth is arguing that Congress overstepped its authority in enacting the provision because it compels Americans to engage in commerce and penalizes those who don't.

The Justice Department, representing the Obama administration, argues that Congress has the regulatory authority because health care is a unique market in which every American will participate at one point in their lives, regardless of whether they obtain insurance. Uninsured Americans cost the system $43 billion a year.