Emily Hulsey | On 27, Feb 2014
Dr. Larry Kawa, an orthodontist from Boca Raton, Florida, is suing President Obama for changing the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate without congressional approval. His case challenging the 29 executive orders that altered Obamacare is the only such case out there. It will be heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta.
Kawa spent $5,000 in legal fees last year to ensure that his business was in compliance with the law’s requirement that employers with 50 or more employees provide insurance to those employees after December 31, 2013. Obama then pushed the deadline back by two years, a move which Kawa claims was politically motivated and, more importantly, illegal.
However, Kawa says he doesn’t want the government to reimburse him. Instead, he wants the court to nullify Obama’s executive orders:
“I’m suing for the court to declare that the act of Congress (the Affordable Care Act) was real and not something the president can change at will,” he said.
Kawa says he’s trying to hold the government accountable to its own laws.
“This is a wave that’s washing over us, and a lot of people are just standing there waiting to get wet,” he said. “Some people just don’t appreciate what is happening.”
If the court rules in Kawa’s favor, the employer mandate will take effect. It would be an unfortunate situation for employers across the country, but it would likely be postponed by Congress almost immediately. The difference between this and the President’s delay of the mandate, however, is that Congress’s would be unquestionably legal.
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/02/118143-florida-orthodontist-singlehandly-dismantle-obamas-use-executive-orders-healthcare-act/
