Georgia is asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entire health care overhaul.

Attorney General Sam Olens said today the state filed an appeal of a portion of the ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

That decision struck down the provision that requires people to buy health insurance.

Olens says the court quote "now has the opportunity to restore Constitutional balance to a federal government of limited powers."

In a ruling in August, a divided three-judge panel of the appeals court concluded that Congress overstepped its authority when lawmakers passed the individual mandate provision, but left intact the rest of the law.

The Obama administration decided this week not to ask the full court to review the ruling, a move that could have delayed the high court review.

Meanwhile, retired Justice John Paul Stevens says the Supreme Court should settle the legal debate over the health care overhaul and not push the case back beyond the 2012 presidential election.

Stevens says the election makes it more important for the court to rule sooner rather than later.

Tags: Supreme Court, healthcare reform, Sam Olens