Small Businesses Closer to Final Resolution on Constitutionality of Burdensome New Law
WASHINGTON, D.C., The Supreme Court of the United States announced that it has chosen, among numerous cases on the same topic, the challenge brought by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) as the case the Court will rule on to determine the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner and Karen Harned, executive director of NFIB’s Small-Business Legal Center, issued the following statements in response to the news:
“Only 18 months after its passage, the new health-care law has been brought to the steps of the Supreme Court by America’s small-business owners. For the small-business community, this comes not a day too soon,” said Dan Danner. “The health-care law has not lived up to its promises of reducing costs, allowing citizens to keep their coverage or improving a cumbersome system that has long been a burden to small-business owners and employees, alike. The small-business community can now have hope; their voices are going to be heard in the nation’s highest court.”
“This law not only failed the self-employed and small-business employees in practice, it has failed them in principle, forcing upon them an unprecedented mandate that infringes upon the individual rights that, truly, all Americans hold so dear,” added Karen Harned. “After months of uncertainty and frustration, small-business owners are finally within the reach of some clarity on how this law will ultimately impact their lives and their livelihoods. We are confident in the strength of our case and hopeful that we will ultimately prevail. Our nation’s job-creators depend on a decision being reached before the harmful effects of this new law become irreversible.”
From Jan Meekcoms, Oregon state director for the National Federation of Independent Business: “We are proud NFIB has led this charge to represent small-business owners and their employees, effectively drawing a line in the sand on the overreach of our federal government. The outcome of this case should, however, not delay the implementation of Oregon’s own health-insurance exchange, which continues to move forward with its business plan that will be presented to the Legislature in February’s session. This exchange still remains an opportunity for the small business and individual markets to be served.”
More information about NFIB’s lawsuit is available at http://nfib.com/lawsuit.
