TY - JOUR
T1 - Congress, Courts, and Commerce
T2 - Upholding the Individual Mandate to Protect the Public's Health
AU - Hodge, James
AU - Brown, Erin C Fuse
AU - Orenstein, Daniel G.
AU - O'Keefe, Sarah
PY - 2011/9/1
Y1 - 2011/9/1
N2 - Among multiple legal challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is the premise that PPACA's "individual mandate" (requiring all individuals to obtain health insurance by 2014 or face civil penalties) is inviolate of Congress' interstate commerce powers because Congress lacks the power to regulate commercial "inactivity." Several courts initially considering this argument have rejected it, but federal district courts in Virginia and Florida have concurred, leading to numerous appeals and prospective review of the United States Supreme Court. Despite creative arguments, the dispositive constitutional question is not whether Congress' interstate commerce power extends to commercial inactivity. Rather, it is whether Congress may regulate individual decisions with significant economic ramifications in the interests of protecting and promoting the public's health. This article offers a counter-interpretation of the scope of Congress' interstate commerce power to regulate in furtherance of the public's health.
AB - Among multiple legal challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is the premise that PPACA's "individual mandate" (requiring all individuals to obtain health insurance by 2014 or face civil penalties) is inviolate of Congress' interstate commerce powers because Congress lacks the power to regulate commercial "inactivity." Several courts initially considering this argument have rejected it, but federal district courts in Virginia and Florida have concurred, leading to numerous appeals and prospective review of the United States Supreme Court. Despite creative arguments, the dispositive constitutional question is not whether Congress' interstate commerce power extends to commercial inactivity. Rather, it is whether Congress may regulate individual decisions with significant economic ramifications in the interests of protecting and promoting the public's health. This article offers a counter-interpretation of the scope of Congress' interstate commerce power to regulate in furtherance of the public's health.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80052005741&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1748-720X.2011.00609.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1748-720X.2011.00609.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 21871037
AN - SCOPUS:80052005741
VL - 39
SP - 394
EP - 400
JO - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics
JF - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics
SN - 1073-1105
IS - 3
ER -