On January 31, 2011, United States District Judge Roger Vinson, sitting in the Northern District of Florida, ruled that the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (“PPACA”), recently enacted by Congress, violated the United States Constitution.

The Minimum Essential Coverage Provision – referred to as the “individual mandate” -- requires that most United States citizens purchase health insurance by 2014 or face a penalty included in the individual’s tax return.

Because he found that this provision was not severable from the remainder of the PPACA, Judge Vinson declared the entire PPACA void.