supreme court health care law

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Supreme Court Health CareThe Health Care Law

Business Law Tuesday, April 17, 2012



Table of Contents

FACTS OF THE CASE

3

Overview and Key Components of the Law

3

Federal Government Individual Mandate to Enact Health

Care Law 4

LEGAL ISSUES5

Commerce Clause vs. Affordable Health Care Act

5

Violate Freedom of Choice?

5

OPINION AND LEAGAL STANDING

6

APPENDIX

7

BIBLIOGRAPHY

8

2



FACTS OF THE CASE

Overview and Key Features of the Law

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the comprehensive

health reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, into law.

The law sets in place comprehensive health insurance reforms or

amendments that will roll out over the next four years and beyond, with

majority of the changes taken place by 2014. Key components of the

law are very specific (see Figure 1) to improve health the health care

delivery system. The health care law aims to improve the current

health care system by increasing access to health coverage for

Americans, controlling health care costs, and it introduces new

consumer protection for people who have health insurance.

Based on healthcare.gov, the most important parts of the law can

be broken down into five groups, which include:

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(1)Rights and Protections: consumer protection will help those

who have insurance get the most out of their plan.

(2) Insurance Choices: providing coverage eligibility to those that

need insurance coverage or have been rejected due to a health

condition or disability.

(3) Insurance Costs: how does your health insurance policy affect

your wallet and getting the most value for your dollar.

(4)65 or Older : the health care law strengthens Medicare and

provides access to preventive services and prescription drug

discounts for seniors.

(5)Employers: tax credits and new programs are available to

small businesses to help make care more affordable for

employers, employees, and early retirees (HealthCare.gov,

2012).

4



Federal Government Individual Mandate to Enact Health Care

Law

Enacting the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March 2010 did not

come with much applause. In fact, soon after the enactment of

the ACA, according to an article published from the Kaiser

Family Foundation, numerous lawsuits challenging various

provisions of the health care reform law were filed in the

federal courts (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012). So much so,

that in November 2011, the United States Supreme Court

agreed to consider several of the raised issues regarding the

constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, and on March 26,

2012, the health care reform bill pushed by President Obama

went to the Supreme Court. One of the main issues being: “the

constitutionality of the individual mandate, requiring most

Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014 (2 hours of

argument on March 27)” (Healthcare Financial Management

Association, 2012).

Basically, the concern is the “individual mandate” portion of the

law requiring that most Americans purchase health insurance or be

fined, something that some find unconstitutional. The idea is that the

“individual mandate” would make health insurance like car insurance

(even thought the comparison is not quite the same) – something that

5



you must legally have if you decide to use a vehicle, not something that

you can decide to not opt into.

LEGAL ISSUES

Violate Freedom of Choice?

Some opponents argue that in addition to the health care law

being unconstitutional, the insurance mandate violates civil liberties,

and should be optional. But the requirements into this health system are

no different from existing programs that people accept without debate,

like Social Security. For federal tax purposes, most Americans have a

Social Security Number and pay a Social Security tax. The same applies

to other things people are required to pay for, such as driver's licenses,

taxes and Medicare. Are these programs “unconstitutional” and violate

freedom of choice? Should they also be optional? (Cheng, 2012)

Commerce Clause vs. Affordable Health Care Act

Those in favor of the health care law, mainly government

attorneys, claim that federal government power to enact individual

mandate, is within the score of the Commerce Clause of the

constitution, because if millions of Americans who choose not to buy

health insurance, affects interstate commerce. Despite those that

oppose this, there is no actual barrier in the Constitution against such a

mandate. The Commerce Clause allows Congress to "lay and collect taxes…

to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among several States," as long as they

6



have a rational basis. And in this case, the Congress claims they do, because they

“estimate that health care services and insurance account for 17 percent of the gross

domestic product and amount to more than $2 trillion annually." And since many

hospitals and health insurers operate on a national market, these two trillion dollars

reveal that the health care market has a significant impact on interstate commerce

(Cheng, 2012).

OPINION AND LEGAL STANDING

With all the facts laid out, I do not believe in government being

able to enact “individual mandate” to “force” citizens to get insurance

or be fined. I think they should start off as making it optional. On the

other hand I understand why the government is attempting to use the

Commerce Clause to grant police power (i.e., the power to compel

individuals to take specific action for the “public good”) to the federal

government. With life expectancy, baby boomers aging, chronic

diseases higher than ever, health care costs are extremely high, so

there definitely needs to be some sort of “control” on the situation.

Hopefully, if granted, the Affordable Act could be the monumental step

in a better health care system for the United States.

7



APPENDIX

Legal Issues

Opinion

8



Figure 1: (AARP, 2012)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. AARP. (2012). AARP health Law Guide. Retrieved April 2012,from AARP:http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/health/healthcare_reform/2012-01/Health-Care-Law-At-A-Glance-AARP.pdf

2. Cheng, B. (2012, April 14). A Constitutionality Checkup.Retrieved April 2012, from Silver Chips Online:http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/11533

3. Healthcare Financial Management Association. (2012). LegalChallenges to the Affordable Care Act. Retrieved April 2012,from Healthcare Financial Management Association:http://www.hfma.org/Templates/Print.aspx?id=24263

4. HealthCare.gov. (2012). Key Features of the Law. RetrievedApril 2012, from HealthCare.gov:http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/index.html

5. Kaiser Family Foundation . (2012, January). Focus on HealthReform . Retrieved April 2012, from Kaiser Family Foundation:

http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8270-2.pdf

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