Does Congress have the power to force people to buy health insurance

Name

Course

Course instructor

Date

Does Congress have the power to force people to buy health insurance?

Constitutionality of the citizens’ obligation to buy healthcare insurance has widely been highly contentious in the recent past. Every American resident is mandated by the Congress to have health insurance either through Medicare, Medicaid or employer provided insurance. There is also another option for paying for personal insurance. The law imposes heavy penalty through income tax for Americans without health insurance. It is argued by the proponents that this mandate will act as a tradeoff aimed at decreasing the cost of healthcare policies nationally as well as offering cheap coverage for individuals who previously had medical conditions.

Congress deem it important for individuals to buy insurance policies they may not want as a way of paying for the near universal healthcare coverage by regarding citizens as part of the risk pool by contributing their premiums yet it is unconstitutional.

The commercial clause, tax clause as well as the “necessary and proper” clause are purported to be supporting the healthcare mandate.it is worth noting that Congress’s authority to make laws is limited by the constitution but the question remains whether the same constitution allows Congress to pass the health insurance bill. According to Robinson it is indeed true that the commerce clause empowers Congress to regulate interstate commerce but any attempt to expand this clause may be summed up as an economic activity (Web). The power circles around operating business or consumption of products and therefore failure to buy the health insurance cannot be termed as either commerce or an interstate activity. It is important to note that by refusing to purchase the health insurance as stipulated by the Congress, an individual does not go against commerce or interstate activity that would perhaps made it constitutional because there is no commerce taking place. The congress does have structural limits to her power because inaction to the individual mandate does not have economic effect.

Also, there is the tax clause which gives federal government power to tax the public but does not allow the congress to use the law in raising revenues. Congress cannot singularly use tax to control a particular conduct if it cannot use both constitutional and the commerce clauses. Most of the opponents of the individual mandate believe that the action is “commandeering” of the American people by forcing the U.S citizens to purchase a product that is profoundly regulated by the federal government. However, the proponents argue that the federal government has long been using tax money to subsidize various services thus disregarding the individual mandate as a good idea (Robinson Web).

Nevertheless, there are some advantages that can be accrued from the individual mandate such as the fact that it will be universally applicable. It is actually very right that every individual would receive medical attention from any point even during emergency cases. Unpredictability of health needs is well taken into consideration by the congress move but, in essence, this shifts focus from health insurance to health care thus making the argument off the topic. According to Robinson the defenders strongly believe that because health is an important thing in one’s life, the individual mandate is very essential (Web). Additionally, the protectors of the bill argue that health care is a bit different because sometimes, health care providers normally offer emergency services too uninsured. It therefore seems that if an insurance policy is not bought then the insurance firms may undergo adversarial economic effects.

Looking at the tax clause, the Federal government’s argument appears to have a lot of flaws. The government tries to convince Americans that it is not confining people’s rights but rather a tax like any other tax where violators are compelled to pay fine. The government puts it clear that it will not charge people who refuse to buy the insurance as guilty of crime. Instead, if an individual’s tax refund is due, the government will only withhold money from the refund. Robinson says that proponents also argue that the individual mandate would enforce controls that strike down preexisting condition clauses which is derived from the necessary and proper Clause principle (Web). This necessary and proper clause doctrine empowers the congress to do much in terms of noon economic activity. Some proponents also feel that Congress has all the powers to regulate one’s decisions because failure to do so may interfere with their (Congress) ability to control the overall commerce related to the health insurance.

Looking at the discussion, it is very likely that the Congress do not have power to compel American citizens to buy health insurance. All the economic and non-economic clauses do not seem to empower the Congress to make such kind of laws. Failure to buy the health insurance policy cannot be interpreted to be either commerce or an interstate activity. It is evident that even when Congress’s commerce authority is viewed expansively, the healthcare mandate does not fall within their power.

Works Cited

Robinson, Mark. Is Congress exempted from Obamacare? Factchecker, 28 Sep. 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://blogs.rgj.com/factchecker/2013/09/28/is-congress-exempted-from-obamacare/>.