Organizing for America | Hannah's Blog: Agreed--Mandatory Insurance (for medical care) Is Unconstitutional

Agreed--Mandatory Insurance (for medical care) Is Unconstitutional

By hannah - Sep 28th, 2009 at 9:26 am EDT

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Tags: Constitution, Health Care, mandates

The Constitutional lawyers are weighing in. Messrs Rivkin and Casey make a valid point. The federal government can't mandate individual behavior. Its role is to carry out the mandates that the Constitution and the Congress set and its obligation is to do so in compliance with the equal protection clause. Which is where, as I've argued before, the current Medicare program already falls down.

However, the involuntary servitude that would be involved in ordering everyone to purchase health insurance from a private corporation is not inconsistent with a general tendency to put increased obligations on citizens. The gradual devolution of the all-voluntary military into involuntary servitude via the "stop loss" program is another example. And then, of course, the extant Medicare program's restrictions for providing services to the elderly and disabled signals that the commitment to official segregation persists in a not inconsiderable segment of the population and seems to be fully supported by their legislative representatives.

Of course, Medicare's violation of the equal protection clause is easy to correct and it certainly isn't necessary to compound the problem piling a violation of property rights on top of that. All that's necessary is for Medicare to be made available to all comers. Make it open-enrollment and be done with it. Those who don't want to participate can continue to rely on Lady Luck or a tree falling on them as they drive down a high way.

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