Health care ruling stirs uncertainty

TAMPA - Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi calls it "detailed" and "well thought out."

The 78-page ruling by Judge Roger Vinson declaring the Health Care Act unconstitutional has been getting a lot of reaction.

Democrats say they're not dwelling on defeat. Some say it's time to move on.

"As the president said last week in the State of the Union, we need to focus on fixing it. Making it better. And I don't hear many folks calling for turning back the clock," said Rep. Kathy Castor.

Not turning back the clock, but tweaking how it works.

Dr. Jay Wolfson, a professor of public health and medicine at USF, says Judge Vinson picked up on something no other judge had.

"There's this little technical clause that you insert in a contract or a piece of legislation that says all these things in this document are different. And if one of them is ruled unconstitutional, or wrong, then all the other ones will stand," Wolfson explained.

But that clause wasn't included in the Health Care bill, so it was all or nothing, in the judge's mind.

Many have wondered, if people are required to have car insurance, why can't we be required to have health insurance?

"Car insurance is regulated by state law. That's one of the key provisions of the judge's thinking in this case. A lot of laws are left for states to regulate. So the state can say you have to have car insurance or you have to have worker's comp. Or you have to do certain things. But those are not federal laws," Wolfson said.

Most Floridians like some of the healthcare reform, like provisions dealing with pre-existing conditions and keeping children on a parent's insurance plan until the age of 26.

Rep. Kathy Castor says she's worried for people who are already benefitting from the Affordable Healthcare Act.

"I do because it causes turmoil and instability in their lives at a time when we need to focus on jobs and economic recovery," she said.

She had some advice to patients who are concerned about the bill and what the judge's ruling means.

"They need to take it into their own hands. Take personal responsibility, talk with their doctors and if they have family issues, look for ways to keep their families healthy and strong. If they need to tap those new consumer protections, know they are there and we're going to fight to keep them," she said.

She assures Floridians healthcare reform will get done.

"We are going to work in a bi-partisan way to make healthcare work for families throughout the Tampa Bay area and the state of Florida."

But many are concerned about mandating we all buy health insurance. It's expected to take years to wind through the legal system, with no clear remedy in sight.

Unless the Justice Department fast tracks the case, it will first go to the Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta this summer, and to the United States Supreme Court in the fall.