Reuters is reporting that the Appeals Court for the11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, ruled today that the individual mandate, the funding mechanism for Obamacare, is unconstitutional. This is the last step before the case goes before the United States Supreme Court. 

The article reports:

The case stems from a challenge by 26 U.S. states which had argued the individual mandate, set to go into effect in 2014, was unconstitutional because Congress could not force Americans to buy health insurance or face the prospect of a penalty.

The question at the bottom of this case is simple, “Can the government force you to buy something you may not want to buy?”  I think that the answer to this question is common sense, but our courts are not always known for common sense.  The individual mandate was going to be the money source for Obamacare–if everyone is forced to buy insurance, the risk pool is larger, and theoretically, the individual cost goes down.  On paper, this means that everyone has a primary care physician and the lines at the emergency rooms are made up of people there only for an emergency, and thus the lines are shorter.  This was part of the plan in Massachusetts, and the lines at the emergency room are still as long as they were before we had Romneycare.  Plus the cost of our health insurance in Massachusetts has risen faster than the rest of the country, and some insurance companies are not providing the coverage they provided before Romneycare.  Our state health insurance has gotten more expensive with less coverage under Romneycare.  I have no reason to believe Obamacare on a national level would be any different.  On a personal note, I just paid over $3,000 out of pocket for cataract surgery and the appropriate lens–and I have good health insurance!

Anyway, stay tuned.  It will be a while before this is decided.  The thing to keep in mind here is that this is a race against the clock.  The mechanisms of Obamacare will begin to kick in in the next two years.  The increased taxes for Obamacare will begin to impact the average American in January 2013–right after the 2012 election.  If Obamacare is not stopped within the next year, stopping it may be moot.  We need to do this as soon as possible.  There are two ways to stop Obamacare–the courts, which are not always dependable, and the 2012 election, which may or not be dependable.  I just hope one of them works in time.