Friday, August 12, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak was pleased with Friday’s ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which overturned a key component of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act during its review of an earlier ruling by a Florida judge in a legal challenge of the federal law filed by 26 states, including Oklahoma.
The appellate court struck down the "individual mandate," considered by many to be the centerpiece of PPACA, which requires individuals to purchase health insurance or face penalties levied by the federal government.
In a 2-1 decision, Chief Judge Joel Dubina and Circuit Judge Frank Hull ruled, "The individual mandate contained in the Act exceeds Congress’s enumerated commerce power. … What Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause is mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die."
The ruling is consistent with Commissioner Doak’s vision for health care in Oklahoma, as opposition to PPACA was a key component of his campaign for Insurance Commissioner.
"Judges Dubina and Hull have confirmed something those of us who oppose PPACA have long recognized: It is unconstitutional for Congress to order Americans to engage in certain commerce," Commissioner Doak said. "Oklahomans deserve improved access to quality health care, but their needs are best served by state-shaped, market-based solutions that broaden, rather than restrict, consumer choice."
- 30 -
About the Oklahoma Insurance Department
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.
###
For more information contact:
Glenn Craven
(405) 522-1769
e-mail: glenn.craven@oid.ok.gov