The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up Virginia's lawsuit on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act until the case has gone through all the lower courts.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli had asked the Supreme Court in February to expedite the state's lawsuit against the federal healthcare law and its mandate to require individuals to buy health insurance.
Following Monday's high court ruling, Cuccinelli said he was not surprised. "The Supreme Court rarely expedites cases under its Rule 11," he said in a statement.
Cuccinelli said he asked the Supreme Court for expedited review of the lawsuit because Virginia and other states are obliged to spend "huge sums" to implement portions of the healthcare act.
"Asking the court to expedite our lawsuit was about removing this crippling and costly uncertainty as quickly as possible," he said.
The case is scheduled go before the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 10 in Richmond, Va.
"This case’s logical end point is the Supreme Court," Cuccinelli said. "It will simply have to make its way through the Fourth Circuit first."
[Read how some healthcare professionals say reform repeal would hurt patient care.]
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia expedited a similar case through its system. The lawsuit was filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, a non-profit group focusing on Constitutional law.
The ACLJ said it was encouraged by the appellate court's decision.
In the case, the ACLJ is appealing a decision by a federal district court in February that dismissed its lawsuit. In its lawsuit, the ACLJ argued that Congress does not have the power under the Constitution to require Americans to purchase health insurance and that the mandate also violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
So far, 26 states have filed lawsuits or have joined lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the health reform law.
[See: Dems pick up the pace in defense of health insurance mandate.]
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