On June 6th, 2011 a federal appeals court in Cincinnati ruled that the Individual Mandate (the portion of the reform law that states all individuals must have health insurance) was constitutional. This was the first appellate court to rule on the issue. Well, on August 12, 2011 a second federal appeals court in Atlanta has ruled the Individual Mandate as unconstitutional. When ruling, they stated that this provision, although unconstitutional, is "severable" from the rest of the legislation. This means that the Individual Mandate would be eliminated but the rest of the law would remain.
Since there are now two federal courts that have ruled on the issue and have split their decision, it makes it much more likely that this issue will be in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as early as the fall with a decision in 2012.
