The Obama administration has decided not to ask a federal appeals court in Atlanta for further review of a ruling striking down the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care overhaul.

The administration's decision makes it more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court would hear a case on the health care overhaul in the court's current term, and render its verdict on the law in the midst of the 2012 presidential election campaign.

In a ruling in August, a divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta concluded Congress overstepped its authority when lawmakers passed the individual mandate provision that requires people to buy health insurance. The administration could have asked the full appeals court to hear the case, potentially delaying high court review.

Tags: healthcare, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, President Obama, Obama administration