Action on the health reform law moved ahead on two fronts Tuesday, as the Obama Administration appealed a ruling that found the law unconstitutional, and the state of Maine received a waiver from one provision of the law.
The appeal was expected, as the feds told Judge Roger Vinson that they were taking their case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, where a three judge panel will first hear the case.
That news was delivered in a boilerplate one page notice of appeal submitted on Tuesday evening to Vinson, who had ruled that the Obama health law was unconstitutional.
Miffed that the feds had not appealed his ruling, the Judge last week gave the feds seven days to act, and ordered them to take the case to the 11th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court.
There was no immediate announcement on when to expect arguments. Any decision by the three judge panel could then be reviewed by the full circuit, before possibly moving on to the High Court.
That legal maneuvering came as the Obama Administration issued another waiver to the health reform law, giving the state of Maine an exemption from certain provisions that require health insurers to spend a certain amount of their premiums on medical care.
Three other states, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Nevada have also asked for an exemption from the provision, which was put in the law in a bid to make sure that health insurance companies are not using premiums for big salaries and bonuses, but are instead plowing that money back into their health care services.
The law requires 85% of premium dollars to be spent on medical care. The states asking for the waivers argue that such a provision might scare off health insurers and actually harm the market for health insurance.
Maine is the first state to get a waiver for this particular provision, which is not related to over a thousand waivers issued to a variety of companies and unions on another provision that deals with limits on health benefits by insurance companies.
Maine will be allowed to keep a 65% premium standard until 2014 when new health insurance exchanges will be in place, which backers argue will provide a much more open market for health insurance policies.
The news of the waiver only caused more aggravation among critics of the health law, who want to know why their states shouldn't be allowed to have the same exemptions as well.
"We ought to be at least be treated equally," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who told his followers on Twitter that Maine was "about the same size" as a Texas county.
"How about Texas?" Cornyn asked.
It wasn't immediately clear if the Health and Human Services Department would soon rule on waivers to this provision for the other three states that have requested them.
