Last Step
Cert. Petition denied.
Next Step
Wait for IPAB to take action and refile.
The Goldwater Institute challenges the Affordable Care Act’s violation of individual rights and the Separation of Powers doctrine. Specifically, our suit is unique among the other lawsuits pending around the country in that it challenges Congress’s creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) as an unconstitutional consolidation of government power in an unelected, unaccountable executive agency.
Case Logistics
Nick Coons of Tempe, Arizona owns his own computer sales and repair business and pays for health care out of his pocket. However, he will face heavy fines from the IRS if he doesn’t buy a government-approved health insurance plan by 2014.
Dr. Eric Novack is an orthopedic surgeon in Glendale, Arizona. Many of his patients are on Medicare. The health care law empowers the Independent Payment Advisory Board to cut Medicare reimbursements to physicians like Dr. Novack in order to cut Medicare spending. Cutting reimbursement rates when they are already low will result in forcing doctors to cut the number of Medicare patients they see and reduced care for Medicare recipients. IPAB is not reform – it is Congress’s way of abdicating its duties to a centralized, unelected, unaccountable board.
Case Documents
Second Amended Complaint (5/10/2011) original filed 8/12/2010Defendants’ Second Motion to Dismiss (5/31/2011)Response to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment (6/20/2011)Statement of Material Facts (6/20/2011)Defendants’ Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss (7/5/2011)Reply in Supoort of Motion for Summary Judgment and Response in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment (8/29/2011) Controverting Statement of Facts (8/29/2011)Order Granting Motion to Stay (1/17/2012)Order regarding Motion to Dismiss and Supplemental Briefing (8/31/2012)Plaintiffs’ Supplemental Brief (9/13/2012)Defendants’ Supplemental Brief (9/27/2012)Trial Court Order Dismissing Lawsuit (12/20/2012)Appellants’ 9th Circuit Opening Brief (5/30/2013)Pacific Legal Foundation Amicus Brief (6/5/2013)Appellees’ 9th Circuit Response Brief (7/31/2013)Appellants’ 9th Circuit Reply Brief (8/14/2013)9th Circuit Opinion Dismissing Complaint (8/7/2014)Petition for a Writ of Certiorari (11/5/14)Amicus brief of Members of Congress (12/4/14)Amicus brief of ACRU (12/20/14)SCOTUS request for DOJ response to Cert Petition (12/22/14)Respondents’ Brief in Opposition (2/20/15)Petitioners’ Reply Brief (3/10/15)
Media Coverage
Special Report w/Bret Baier: IPAB is a bipartisan concern
Wall Street Journal: Op ed: A Bad Provision Even by Obamacare Standards
Washington Times: Challenging Obamacare’s Health Care Rationing
World Net Daily: Feds Sued for Obamacare’s Privacy Rights Violation
Stossel: IPAB, Obamacare lawlessness, and abuse of executive power
Op ed: IPAB: A New Era Of Healthcare Unaccountability
Quin Hillyer: Key Obamacare Challenge, Postponed
National Review: A Strike at the Heart of Obamacare
Reason: IPAB: “The Roach After the Nuclear Blast.”
The Hill: GOP hearings shine spotlight on lawsuit to stop Medicare board
Washington Post: George Will: Government by the ‘experts’
Daily Caller: Arizona lawsuit is latest to challenge to federal health care law
Daily Caller: ‘Real death panels’ set to face heat in Congress, courts
Weekly Standard: When Will the GOP Go On Offense Over Obama’s Medicare Plan?
Legal Team
Christina Sandefur Christina Sandefur is Executive Vice President at the Goldwater Institute. As an attorney, she has won important victories for the rights of entrepreneurs, taxpayers, and property owners in Arizona. She is also a co-drafter of the Right to Try initiative, which protects terminally ill patients’ right to try safe investigational treatments that have been prescribed by their physician but are not yet FDA approved for market. She is the co-author of the book Cornerstone of Liberty: Private Property Rights in 21st Century America (2016). Christina is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law and Hillsdale College.
Clint Bolick Clint Bolick served as the Goldwater Institute’s Vice President for Litigation until January, 2016, when he was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court.
