The AHA and other major national hospital trade groups filed a joint amici brief in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals supporting a lower-court decision to uphold the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law, according to a report by AHA News Now.
Responding to opponents' arguments that the law's individual mandate to buy insurance violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the groups argue that "accepting services and deciding how to pay for them" is "an economic activity, pure and simple," under the Commerce Clause.
Other groups filing the brief were the Federation of American Hospitals, Catholic Health Association, National Association of Children's Hospitals, National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems and Association of American Medical Colleges, which hosts the Council of Teaching Hospitals.
The brief noted that at least 94 percent of uninsured people receive healthcare services at some point in their lives, amounting to more than $39 billion in uncompensated care from hospitals in 2009 alone.
Read the AHA News Now report on the healthcare reform law.
Read more coverage of federal court decisions on the healthcare reform law.
-Half of States Ask Judge to Stop Entire Reform Law
-President Asks Judge to Clarify Decision Against Reform Law
-For First Time, Judge Strikes Down Entire Reform Law
Responding to opponents' arguments that the law's individual mandate to buy insurance violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the groups argue that "accepting services and deciding how to pay for them" is "an economic activity, pure and simple," under the Commerce Clause.
Other groups filing the brief were the Federation of American Hospitals, Catholic Health Association, National Association of Children's Hospitals, National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems and Association of American Medical Colleges, which hosts the Council of Teaching Hospitals.
The brief noted that at least 94 percent of uninsured people receive healthcare services at some point in their lives, amounting to more than $39 billion in uncompensated care from hospitals in 2009 alone.
Read the AHA News Now report on the healthcare reform law.
Read more coverage of federal court decisions on the healthcare reform law.
-Half of States Ask Judge to Stop Entire Reform Law
-President Asks Judge to Clarify Decision Against Reform Law
-For First Time, Judge Strikes Down Entire Reform Law