If Congress manages to pass a health-insurance bill in the next few weeks, it will undoubtedly require every person to have medical coverage or pay a fine. If someone's employer doesn't offer a policy, he will be obligated to buy one for himself no matter how expensive. (Subsidies will be available to lower- and middle-income people.)

Coverage is not likely to be cheap because the bill that President Obama signs will also undoubtedly mandate that "basic" coverage contain far more than coverage for bankruptcy-threatening catastrophic illness. It will also include a large variety of elective and preventive services that are actually inappropriate for insurance, since they are discretionary. The day of high-deductible, low-cost insurance will be gone. Congress and the president will decree that you must have Cadillac coverage even if a Ford suits your needs and your budget better.

Everyone who believes he lives in a free country should be asking himself, By what authority do the Congress and the president force me to buy insurance?

That this question is hardly discussed is an ominous sign. The public discussion about so-called health-care reform has focused almost entirely on whether the government should compete with private insurers through a "public option." Abortion financing and the impact on the budget deficit have also gotten their share of attention.

But nearly everyone takes for granted the government's authority to force us to buy medical insurance. How does that square with the traditional American belief that government should leave you alone unless you commit a crime against person or property? Where does compulsory health insurance fit into that principle?

I imagine that most people think that the government doesn't even need specific grounds to exert that power. If a majority of Congress and the president in their wisdom think we need insurance, then they can compel us to buy it — or so the implicit reasoning seems to go.

But that shouldn't be good enough for a country whose founding document speaks of inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not to mention the right of revolution.

Even the Congressional Budget Office calls the mandate "unprecedented," adding, "The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States."

So why aren't we all asking, "By what authority?"

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's 2,074-page bill tries to answer that question. It states that health insurance is interstate commerce, which Congress has the power to regulate under the Constitution's Commerce Clause. The first question that should arise is that even if you grant that government may regulate interstate commerce, what does forcing consumers to buy insurance have to do with regulation? The bill states that the mandate is necessary because the insurance market won't work effectively without it. And why not? Because the same bill also compels insurance companies to cover everyone essentially at the same price regardless of health status. If the sick and the healthy must be charged the same premium and healthy people choose to opt out of insurance, then premiums to the remaining sick policyholders will be higher than otherwise. Therefore, the healthy must be forbidden to opt out. Hence the mandate.

Notice the circularity: The mandate is necessary to protect the insurance market from the high premiums caused by the bill containing the mandate. And by what authority are insurers compelled to cover everyone at the same price? The Commerce Clause, of course. However you construe that clause, it is twisted logic for the government to burden interstate commerce through price controls, then impose a mandate on consumers to fix the problems the burden created. (By the way, if health insurance is interstate commerce, why does the federal government stop insurers from selling across state lines?)

Government intervention begets more intervention. When politicians forbid insurers to charge customers according to risk, that is not real insurance. It's welfare, requiring forced participation by those who would opt out if free to do so. Congress and Obama are about to violate the rights of Americans in an attempt to avoid the mess they know they are about to make. But they forgot something:

Free societies don't have mandates.

Source: Campaign for Liberty
By :Sheldon Richman
Copyright © 2009 Future of Freedom Foundation

Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, author of Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State, and editor of The Freeman magazine. Visit his blog "Free Association" at www.sheldonrichman.com. Send him email.

Views: 48

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Marjory Taylor Green Proposes Bill Abolishing Geoengineering or Weather Modification
"cheeki kea Marjory is in a daily battle with Democrats on the hill constantly coming up with more…"
55 minutes ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
1 hour ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Mr. Sizzle favorited Less Prone's video
Wednesday
tjdavis posted a photo
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Saga of Joe Adams May Have Solved What's Behind the Numerous Disappearances Going on in our National Forests

     The year is 2023 in September. A nature’s photographer and experienced survivalist, Joe Adams…See More
Monday
Sandy posted a video

Aron Siri's opening statement, Senate Hearing on Covid Vaccines, May 25

Opening statement Aaron Siri, Managing Partner, Siri & Glimstad, L.L.P.Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Permanent Subcommittee on Investiga...
Monday
cheeki kea replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"A smidgeon of facts have come to light. In English a misspelling suddenly occurred where an extra R…"
Monday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Cancel Culture Vulture

  Better to shut them down than hear their point of viewCancel culture coming after youHelping to…See More
Saturday
Doc Vega posted a photo
Jul 11
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Fingerprint

The Fingerprint On a dance with the unpredictability of the signals you sendA solemn pact with my…See More
Jul 11
Sandy posted a video
Jul 11
tjdavis posted a video
Jul 9
Burbia replied to Burbia's discussion Trump Receives Marching Orders
Jul 9
Less Prone favorited Burbia's video
Jul 9
Less Prone replied to Burbia's discussion Trump Receives Marching Orders
"Bullets can be effective in reinforcing ownership."
Jul 9
Burbia posted a discussion

Trump Receives Marching Orders

Netanyahu has made 3 visits to the White house since Trump's second term as President of the United…See More
Jul 9
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From This

"Omg. The Ben Shapiro voice that Luke is imitating here couldn't be any more comedic to…"
Jul 8
Burbia posted a video

Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From This

Get the magnesium your body needs - https://wearechange.shop/product/magnesium-glycinate/Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From ThisHig...
Jul 8
cheeki kea posted photos
Jul 8

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted