The NYT reports: As Obama administration officials put into place some of the new rules that go into effect under the federal health care law, they are issuing more waivers to try to prevent some insurers and employers from dropping coverage and also promising to modify other rules because many of the existing policies would […]
Archive | Health Care
Upcoming Speech at Duke Law School on the Individual Mandate Litigation
By Ilya Somin on November 14, 2010 3:40 pm in Federalism, Federalist Society, Health Care, Individual Mandate
This Monday at noon, I will be giving a talk at Duke Law School on the Obamacare individual mandate litigation, which I recently wrote about here. The speech is sponsored by the Duke Federalist Society.
Upcoming Talk at University of Florida Law School on the Individual Mandate Litigation
This Wednesday at noon, I will be giving at talk at the University of Florida Law School on the Obamacare individual mandate litigation, which I recently wrote about here. The speech is sponsored by the UF Federalist Society and Health Law Society.
My Richmond Times-Dispatch Op Ed on the Obama Health Care Plan Individual Mandate Litigation
By Ilya Somin on November 8, 2010 2:34 am in Commerce Clause, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Spending Clause, Taxing and Spending Clause
Yesterday, I published an op ed on the state of the individual mandate litigation in the Richmond Times-Dispatch: When 21 states and several private groups initiated lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care law earlier this year, critics denounced the suits as frivolous political grandstanding. But it is increasingly clear that the plaintiffs […]
The Economy and the Election
Some commenters on my earlier post on the election criticize my claim that the economy determined the outcome far more than the health care bill and Obama’s other left-wing policies. I don’t deny that these factors hurt the Democrats. But the economy mattered far more. The standard economic model of midterm electoral outcomes developed by […]
California District Court Dismisses Anti-Mandate Lawsuit for Lack of Standing
I should have gotten around to this when it happened. But it’s still worth nothing that a federal district court in California dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Obama health care plan’s individual mandate on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing. The case was brought by former California state legislator Steve Baldwin and the Pacific […]
The Individual Mandate Debate as a Replay of United States v. Lopez
[With apologies to Orin.] The more I participate in discussions on the constitutionality of the individual mandate, the more it feels to me like a replay of the debate over the limits of federal commerce clause power prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Lopez. In both cases, the issue is whether […]
The Individual Mandate and the Taxing Power
My colleague Erik Jensen, who has forgotten more about the Taxing Power than I’ll ever know, has a new paper on whether the individual mandate is a “tax” for constitutional purposes. Here’s the abstract: This article, prepared for a symposium at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University, considers whether the Taxing […]
Is the Individual Mandate “Necessary”?
Like my co-conspirators, I believe the Necessary & Proper Clause provides the strongest basis for the constitutionality of the individual mandate. I”m inclined to agree with Ilya nad Randy, rather than Orin, but I believe it’s a close call. The constitutional argument, as has been rehearsed in this space before, is that that mandate is […]
The Florida District Court Decision Rejecting the Federal Government’s Motion to Dismiss the Case Against the Individual Mandate
By Ilya Somin on October 14, 2010 5:42 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Spending Clause, Taxes, Taxing and Spending Clause
There are several interesting aspects of today’s Florida federal district court ruling rejecting the government’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the Obama health care plan’s individual mandate brought by 20 states and the National Federation of Independent Business. First, as Randy Barnett emphasizes, this ruling, like the similar Virginia decision before it, further undercuts […]
Kopel comment on states’ victory on health control lawsuit.
By David Kopel on October 14, 2010 5:06 pm in Commerce Clause, Congress, Constitutional Law, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Spending Clause, Standing, Taxes, Taxing and Spending Clause, Tenth Amendment
My comment on today’s decision, granting the motion to dismiss on some counts, and while allowing other counts to proceed. Like Randy’s comment, my comment is posted on the blog of the site Health Care Lawsuits, which is hosted by the Independent Women’s Forum. The court entirely rejected the administration’s claim that the penalty for disobeying […]
Florida District Court Refuses to Dismiss Obamacare Challenge
Judge Roger Vinson of the Northern District of Florida has issued a decision refusing to dismiss the constitutional challenge to the Obama Administration’s health care legislation. You can read the decision here, and more information here. On the Commerce Clause issue, the court said: The individual mandate applies across the board. People have no choice […]
My Analysis of Thomas More Law Center v. Obama
Just published on the Daily Caller. Of course it’s written for lay people, so most of the analysis will already be familiar to the legally-educated folks who read the VC.
Michigan District Court Upholds Individual Mandate Against Challenge by the Thomas More Law Center
By Ilya Somin on October 7, 2010 6:19 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate
Michigan federal district Judge George Caram Steeh just issued an opinion upholding the Obama health care plan’s individual mandate against a challenge by the conservative Thomas More Law Center and several individual plaintiffs who refuse to purchase health insurance by 2014 as the mandate requires. This is the first opinion issued on the merits in […]
That Which is “Necessary” Isn’t Necessarily Proper
By Ilya Somin on October 6, 2010 7:41 pm in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper
In his most recent post in our debate over the Necessary and Proper Clause, Orin argues that Supreme Court precedent has resolved the issue of what counts as “proper” as well as what is “necessary.” That, however, simply is not so. None of the cases Orin cites say anything about the meaning of “proper.” They […]