What will 2011 bring for health reform???
Expect health reform or "ObamaCare" as it has become known, to face several challenges this year. First up will be a House vote on repeal which has been scheduled for January 12th, but if repeal is on your agenda, dont expect much of substance to happen.
If the House votes to repeal, and if, by some miracle there are enough votes to pass repeal in the Senate, President Obama will veto the bill. There are simply not enough votes in Congress to override his veto. The first date possible to enact repeal will be January 20, 2013 when a new President might be sworn in.
From a legal perspective, there are several suits pending in courts around the nation, but the Florida and Virginia cases are the likely tests which will elevate to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lots of interesting things can happen in the Federal judiciary process, not the least of which is whether Justice Sonia Sotomayor needs to recuse herself because of a previous case she worked on relating to health care.
The legal matters should be interesting in that ObamaCare is a three legged stool. It needs increases in access, an individual mandate to buy, and an employer mandate to provide. Take away any one leg and the whole stool collapses. If the Supremes rule with Virginia and agree that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, then isnt the employer mandate to provide also similarly unconstitutional?
Another way to affect ObamaCare is to starve it. Congress can block funding for key portions of the law, but ultimately the proponents of the law will find a way to fund its mechanism.
The real problems with ObamaCare (other than the staggering cost) are the so-called "exchanges" for individuals and small businesses may use to buy coverage, and the process of "comparative effectiveness" which is what has become the cliche known as "death panels." Believe me, there's a reason this was labeled as the "Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research; you can figure out what to expect from this process by examining the acronym--you couldnt make this stuff up!
I welcome your comments.
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Jun '10
Re: What will 2011 bring for health reform???
I understand that Justice Kagan may have some conflicts with sitting on healthcare act cases from being Solicitor General and acting as a policy advisor. What is the source of the potential conflict of Justice Sotomayor?
Edited on Jan 4, 2011 at 11:40amDec '10
Re: What will 2011 bring for health reform???
Saw a piece on Bloomberg TV but I cant quote the case she had a potential conflict from....sorry.
Dec '10
Re: What will 2011 bring for health reform???
House Republicans have named their bill to repeal ObamaCare. Its called the "Repealing the Job Killing Health Care Law Act" and you can read about it here:
http://www.lifeandhealthinsurancenews.com/News/2011/1/Pages/PPACA-The-Repealing-the-JobKilling-Health-Care-Law-Act.aspx?nul
Edited on Jan 4, 2011 at 2:46pmRe: What will 2011 bring for health reform???
I believe that the Supreme Court will rule the individual mandate unconstitutional.
Dec '10
Re: What will 2011 bring for health reform???
I agree......then what will Obama's people do to subvert the Constitution?
Jun '10
Re: What will 2011 bring for health reform???
The Constitution? Are you referring to that rag written over 100 years ago? Who cares?