U.S. Appeals court throws out artist's Obamacare challenge

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday dismissed a long-shot challenge to the Obamacare health law brought by an Iowa artist. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected claims made by Matt Sissel, who was backed by the Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group. Sissel claimed, among other things, that the 2010 law violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution that says any revenue-raising legislation must originate in the House of Representatives, not in the Senate, as Obamacare did. In Tuesday's ruling, the appeals court upheld a lower court decision that dismissed the case. The three-judge panel was unanimous in finding that Sissel's interpretation of the law was at odds with U.S. Supreme Court precedents, including the high court's ruling in 2012 that upheld the individual mandate. The case is Sissel v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 13-5202. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Tom Brown)