Third federal judge upholds Obama health care law

Judge Gladys Kessler of the District Court for the District of Columbia became the third judge, and third Clinton appointee, to uphold the constitutionality of the Obama health care law on Tuesday.  Two other judges, both Republican appointments, have struck down the law’s provision requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance starting in 2014.  More than 20 challenges to the act or some aspect of it have been filed. Oral arguments in the first appellate reviews are scheduled for May and June.

Kessler suggested in the 64-page opinion that not buying insurance was an active choice that burdened other payers with the cost of uncompensated medical care.   She wrote, “the individual decision to forgo health insurance, when considered in the aggregate, leads to substantially higher insurance premiums for those other individuals who do obtain coverage.”