The Legal Assault on Health Reforms

As readers well know at this point, I support reforms to America's broken health care system which up until now has left millions without health care coverage and forced these individuals to either fore go needed treatment or often seek it through non-profit hospital emergency rooms which is among the least cost effective routes possible, but one of the few that was available to the uninsured. Sadly, there are many in the USA - mostly Republicans and tea party loons - that continue to see other citizens as disposable commodities and while wearing their religion on their sleeves - e.g., Virginia's Ken Cuccinelli - are among the least Christian acting and most hate filled one can encounter. Moreover, in the realm of politicians, these opponents of reform are a combination of grand standers for insane elements within their party base or equally deranged themselves. The New York Times has an on point editorial on those who would torpedo health care reform. Here are highlights:
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No sooner had President Obama signed comprehensive health care reform than the attorneys general of 14 states scurried to the federal courts to challenge the law. Their claims range from far-fetched to arguable and look mostly like political posturing for the fall elections or a “Hail Mary” pass by disgruntled conservatives who cannot accept what Congress and the president have done.
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There are two separate suits by the attorneys general. The main one, led by Bill McCollum, a Florida Republican, has been joined by 12 other attorneys general, all but one Republicans. Many if not most are either running for higher office or seeking re-election. A separate suit by Virginia’s Republican attorney general is based on that state’s attempt (sure to be ineffective) to nullify the federal law by enacting a state law declaring that Virginians need not obey it.
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[T]wo provisions in the Constitution give Congress broad powers to regulate economic activity — the power to impose taxes for the general welfare and the power to regulate interstate commerce. The new law has been framed to fall within both of those provisions. The penalties for not buying insurance have been structured as a tax, to be collected by the Internal Revenue Service. And the law’s text includes a series of Congressional findings: that health insurance and health care comprise a significant part of the economy, that most policies are sold and claims paid through interstate commerce, and that the mandate is essential to achieving the goals of creating effective health insurance markets and achieving near-universal coverage.
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Such findings don’t make the new law bullet-proof, but they help to insulate it from attack. It seems a long shot that the Supreme Court would invalidate the mandate, if the cases ever reach that level.
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The attorneys general are doing a disservice to their constituents by opposing Medicaid expansion and a mandate that everyone buy insurance, with subsidies for low- and middle-income people. The mandates are needed to push enough healthy young people into insurance pools to help subsidize the cost of covering sicker people and make it feasible for insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions. Alternative approaches to entice people to obtain coverage would likely be less successful.

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In the case of Cuccinelli, he clearly does not represent - or care about - most Virginians. He is on a delusional crusade to make Virginia conform to the alternate universe in which he resides. Nothing and no one else matters. It is a scary prospect.