NU Online News Service, Aug. 15, 2:49 p.m.EDT

Friday's decision by an appeals court panel on the healthcarelaw ensures that the Supreme Court will be the ultimate arbiter ofthe law's constitutionality, but otherwise further muddies thewater as to what benefits employers will have to provide to theiremployees, industry officials said.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision rejected theindividual-mandate provision of the Patient Patient Protection andAffordable Care Act, but upheld its other provisions.

Ed Fensholt, director of the health reform advisory practice atthe Lockton benefit Group, Kansas City, says the constitutionalityof the individual mandate is an issue that the Supreme Court wasalmost certainly going to take up anyway in the coming months, butthe recent decision "virtually guarantees it."

At the same time, "more than anything else, employers needcertainty in order to focus on their core business mission," saysJames Klein, president of the American Benefits Council.

He adds that while the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hasnow ruled the mandate unconstitutional, a panel of the 6th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals recently found the mandate to be a validexercise of the Commerce Clause.

"The fact that the 11th Circuit's decision upheld the rest ofthe law, while striking down the mandate, does not make thesituation any clearer," Klein says.

He states, "Citizens, employers and all stakeholders deserve theclarity that only the Supreme Court can provide."