Frontline, ProPublica slam assisted living sector in documentary airing tonight

An Ohio federal judge recently allowed a lawsuit that challenges the insurance mandate of the healthcare reform law to proceed to trial.

The lawsuit charges that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate violates the Commerce Clause in the Constitution. Judge David Dowd Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio permitted this claim but dismissed all the other claims in the suit.

The judge’s decision follows a similar ruling by a federal judge in Florida. A healthcare reform suit filed by attorneys general in Florida and 19 other states also will proceed to trial. Republicans, who soon will take control of the U.S. House, have called for a repeal of the law.