Another federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that President Obama’s healthcare reform law is constitutional.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law’s requirement that almost all Americans buy health insurance. In a symbolic win for the law’s supporters, the opinion was written by Judge Laurence Silberman — a Reagan appointee.

Legally, the decision is unlikely to mean a great deal. The healthcare law is already before the Supreme Court, which is widely expected to take up a separate lawsuit filed by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business. Legal experts are anticipating oral arguments early next year and a ruling next summer — just months before the presidential election.

But the D.C. Circuit decision is nevertheless another victory for the mandate, giving it a winning record in federal appeals courts. Two circuits have now upheld the law, one has ruled it unconstitutional and one declined to rule, based on procedural grounds.

Silberman said the Commerce Clause of the Constitution allows Congress to regulate decisions that affect interstate commerce. People don’t have to be active participants in a particular market to be subject to government mandates, he wrote.

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