CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE NEW HEALTH CARE BILL

Constitutionality of the new health care bill

Constitutionality of the New Health Care Bill

The debate over health care reform in the United States centers on questions about

whether there is a fundamental right to health care,

who should have access to health care and under what circumstances,

who should be required to contribute toward the costs of providing health care in a society,

whether the government should support health care commerce by forcing citizens to buy insurance or pay a tax,

the quality achieved for the sums spent,

the sustainability of expenditures that have been rising faster than the level of general inflation and the growth in the economy,

the role of the federal government in bringing about such change

concerns over unfunded liabilities.

62% of all personal bankruptcies in the United States were medical. Medical impoverishment is almost unheard of in wealthy countries other than the US. The United States spends a greater portion of total yearly income in the nation on health care than any United Nations member state except for East Timor (Timor-Leste), although the actual use of health care services in the U.S., by most measures of health services use, is below the median among the world's developed countries. (Reid, 2009)

Indeed, a federal government mandate to require citizens to purchase such an expensive consumer item — health insurance often costs more than $1,000 per month — has never been created in U.S. history, even in wartime. As the Heritage Foundation recently asked: “Can Congress require all Americans to buy a new Buick every year or pay a tax equivalent to the price of a used LeSabre?” Such is the same power being claimed on behalf of the healthcare legislation. Here's what the principle the healthcare mandate means: The federal government could literally require individual citizens to purchase any product or service ...