States can place requirements on you the federal government can't. Car insurance is an example, as we are required to purchase it to drive on public roads in Washington, but it is a state requirement not federal. The feds have gotten around this for years by requiring the states to do XXX or loose federal funding for XXX. ( 55 speed limit a good example or loose highway funds ) Had the health care bit required states to do XXX or loose federal Medicaid / Medicare funding it would have moved on down the road. It is the Federal government requiring you to purchase insurance that it ran amuck as they can not require you to purchase a product. If they had done single pay ( tax ) as in Soc Sec ( tax ) ect all a go but the key is they tax you and then provide the service. Also the lack of the little clause that says if one part is unconstitutional the rest stands alone ( usually done ) is missing, otherwise the judge would have only struck the mandatory purchase bit.

I assume ........... hell I don't know why the D's didn't put it in except they would not have had the votes. Don't know.