Conservatives are all thumped up about regarding U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson’s declaring a critical part of Obamacare unconstitutional.
- The ruling deals only with that part of the health law that has the federal government requiring that all people buy health insurance. While Atty. Gen. Kenneth Cuccinelli won on this point, Hudson did not go along with the Cooch on striking down the law entirely or delaying its implementation until a higher court can rule on an appeal, which the Justice Department has already filed.
- Two other federal judges have upheld the law, including one in Lynchburg. Both were appointed by a Democrat. Hudson is a Bush appointee.
- Virginia is not the only state to challenge Obamacare. About 20 attorneys general are suing in Florida. While the Cooch scored some points, he’s just one of many conservatives who dislikes the law. Indeed, my old college roomate, an ecologist-turned-Republican who is a former congressman from New Hampshire, is against it.
- The “Commerce Clause” aspect which is what Hudson is dwelling upon is a very elastic and flexible concept. It has been used this way and that for years. So while Hudson’s narrow ruling has interpreted the clause one way, it is quite possible an appeals judge might see it differently.
My personal view is mixed. While I enthusiastically embrace health care reform, I do have some misgivings about being forced to buy something. Yet, I understand that one of the reasons why all need to buy health insurance is that productive tax payers get stuck with the emergency room or other bills of cheapskates who skimp on insurance until they are sick or injured.
It could very well be that the only solution to this is socialized medicine with a one-payer system. We are perhaps the only advanced industrial country that doesn’t have one. I know several doctors on the front lines of health care who are sick to death of having to deal with for-profit (or even non-profit) insurance companies that game the managed care program set up three decades ago.
The Dems have suffered a defeat, but it may not last. Meanwhile, I haven’t seen one clear new reform from the GOP or from the naysayers like Jim Bacon who somehow thinks that a medical concierge system might work (sure Jim, if you are rich).
Peter Galuszka
