A federal district judge in Virginia ruled on Monday that the
keystone provision in the Obama health care law is
unconstitutional, becoming the first court in the country to
invalidate any part of the sprawling act and insuring that
appellate courts will receive contradictory opinions from
below.
Judge Henry E. Hudson declined to freeze implementation of
the law pending appeal, meaning that there should be no
immediate effect of his decision. But the ruling is likely to
create confusion among the public and further destabilize
political support for the law.
Judge Hudson wrote that the law's central requirement that
most Americans obtain health insurance exceeds the regulatory
authority granted to Congress under the Commerce Clause of
the Constitution. The insurance mandate is central becauseinsurers say they cannot afford treatment for expensive
chronic conditions unless healthy people have policies as
well.
I'm not surprised, forcing someone to buy Healthcare probably skirts constitutionality ( it depends on how one interprets the 'pursuit of happiness' clause in the D of I) and is in some sense un-american. However, to be fair under that same law, if a person has refused to buy health insurance for themselves and their families, all treatment for any aliment, no matter how horrific, should be denied to them and their family, unless they can afford to pay for it out of pocket. It is only fair that when the need arises they be obligated to pay up front. Gotta run to the emergency room; got no insurance then bring cash or a certified check or you ain't gettin no treatment. Now, that's how the system should work in a purely capitalistic America ,as so many people want it to be. You Ayn Rand groupies know what I'm talking about.
ReplyDeleteI for one believe that everyone in American has a constitutional right to some base level of medical treatment to be covered by the society as a whole. What that level is? Well we can argue about it. Hospitals should be reimbursed for the people they are required by law to treat.
It is unfortunate that our President did not try to finesse the issue by putting forth a more modest proposal. For example, he could have insisted the Medicare/Medicaid laws be modified to include all children under the age of 21 and that people could join Medicare starting at the age of 50. I think, he would have garnered a large constituency and it would have sailed through Congress.