A federal judge in Detroit rejected a request seeking to block the implementation of the individual mandate included in federal health reform.

U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh’s ruling is a win for the Obama administration, which is fighting several suits alleging that the requirement that all Americans buy health insurance or face a fine, starting in 2014, is unconstitutional.

In the Detroit suit, the Thomas More Center argued for three uninsured Michigan residents that Congress does not have the authority under the commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution to pass the law. The center also argued that the fine for not buying health insurance is an unconstitutional tax.

“There is a rational basis to conclude that, in the aggregate, decisions to forgo insurance coverage in preference to attempting to pay for healthcare out of pocket drive up the cost of insurance,” Steeh wrote in the 20-page ruling. “The costs of caring for the uninsured who prove unable to pay are shifted to healthcare providers, to the insured population in the form of higher premiums, to governments, and to taxpayers.”
Several other cases involving the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act continue to wind their way through court. A Florida case filed by attorneys general in 20 states had oral arguments last month, and a judge is expected to rule Oct. 14 if it can move forward. A separate case, filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, is scheduled for an Oct. 18 hearing, after a judge deemed the questions involving the law worthy of judicial review.

Legal experts say one or more of the cases is likely to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, where a ruling could pave the way for the law to be fully implemented, trim its components or deem it unconstitutional.