Today the Supreme Court began debating one of the provisions of the 2010 health care law that says that by 2014 Americans must purchase health insurance or face a financial penalty. A poll that was released yesterday indicates that 47% of people support the mandate while 51% oppose it. There is a gender gap on this issue with 53% of women supporting the mandate and 58% of me opposing it. There is also a partisan divide on the issue with 71% of Democrats favoring it and 78% of Republicans opposing it. The main issue is, can the federal government, under the Constitution's commerce clause, regulate economic "inactivity"? 26 states, led by Florida, argue that people can't be forced to buy insurance. Supporters of the mandate "see it as a way to spread health care costs among a larger pool of individuals, ensuring affordable, quality medical care". "Opponents see fundamental constitutional violations, such as an intrusion into a citizen's personal life and an intrusion in long-held state power". This issue is really important because it brings up the question of whether the federal government can regulate anything it wants to or whether there are some things that only the state government can regulate.
Source: CNN
No comments:
Post a Comment