ATLANTA (AP) -- A federal appeals court says it's not within the power of Congress to make people enter into contracts to buy "an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die."

The court in Atlanta is siding with the 26 states that sued to block the health care law, rejecting the provision requiring people to buy insurance. Another appeals court has upheld it. And the White House says it's confident today's ruling won't stand.

The panel, in its divided ruling today, didn't go as far as a lower court that had rejected the entire overhaul as unconstitutional.

Government attorneys are expected to ask the full 11th Circuit to review the ruling. They can also appeal to the Supreme Court, which legal observers think will have the final say.

A group representing small businesses today urged the Supreme Court to strike down the rest of the health care overhaul. The National Federation of Independent Business has argued that the law would cost small businesses millions of dollars.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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