The Virginia federal court reviewing the legality of the Affordable Care Act has made a tough blow to the individual mandate provision of the law, while leaving the remaining provisions intact. In the full opinion released this week, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson determined that the individual mandate and associated provisions could be declared unconstitutional — severing the “problematic portions [of the law] while leaving the remainder intact.” The basis of his decision was whether the federal government can regulate and tax people's decision to participate or not participate in interstate commerce (interstate commerce being the justification for the individual mandate provision). He concluded that the law “embraces far more than health care reform. It is laden with provisions and riders patently extraneous to health care — over 400 in all.” The law is under review by courts in several states. Michigan has previously decided in favor of the law.

The full text of the ruling is available from Kaiser Health News.

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