<P> Twenty - six state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the federal government claiming the insurance mandate is unconstitutional . On June 8, 2011, a panel of three judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta held hearings on the issue . On August 12, 2011 . The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Individual Mandate portion unconstitutional, stating that Congress had exceeded its authority by requiring Americans to buy coverage . </P> <P> Differing court opinions have clashed over the question of whether failure to purchase insurance can be considered an economic activity that affects interstate commerce . In Virginia v. Sebelius, Judge Henry Hudson overturned the law, claiming that failure to purchase health insurance coverage could not be considered economic activity, being rather economic "inactivity". In Liberty University v. Geithner, Judge Norman Moon upheld the law, countering: </P> <P> Far from' inactivity,' by choosing to forgo insurance, Plaintiffs are making an economic decision to try to pay for health care services later, out of pocket, rather than now, through the purchase of insurance ." Similarly, in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, judge George Steeh ruled that such decisions have "a documented impact on interstate commerce ." </P> <P> In response to the Virginia decision, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the appeal immediately, rather than going through the Fourth Circuit . On November 14, 2011, the Supreme Court announced it would hear the case in the spring of 2012 . The Supreme Court heard arguments on March 26--28, 2012 . Its majority opinion agreed that upholding the PPACA under the commerce clause "would open a new and potentially vast domain to congressional authority" and that "the power to regulate commerce presupposes the existence of commercial activity to be regulated". The Court held that Congress did not have authority under the Commerce Clause to require citizens to purchase health insurance, but still upheld the law's "individual mandate" provision under Congress' taxing authority . </P>

Which clause is the source of implied powers under the us constitution