What else could be thrown out by the Supreme Court after the health care reform?

Health Care Reform

Health Care ReformThe Supreme Court is deciding whether or not the PPACA is constitutional, but there could be a great deal more to follow.

The entire country awaits the Supreme Court’s decision about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and whether or not its health care reform should be considered to be constitutional, but many are concerned that this is not the only thing at risk of being thrown out.

The ruling is expected to be made before the completion of June, at which time the states will all begin to know how they can proceed in terms of providing its residents with healthcare. Many have already started to proceed under the assumption that the overhaul’s changes will be upheld, and the individual mandate – the heart of both the changes to the system and the controversy – will stand.

Should the individual mandate be the only questionable issue in terms of whether or not it is constitutional, then those opposed to health care under federal control will still face significant challenges over the long term.

There is a single central assumption that is rarely challenged and that makes every change to the system more difficult.

This continual hurdle to health care reform is even faced by Republicans of the most conservative beliefs. It is the fact that this form of insurance coverage is a part of the “interstate commerce” and it is therefore subject to lawmaking in Congress. Equally, though, health plans are not a form of product or service that cross the state borders. Instead, they are contracts where premiums are paid in order to ensure that certain costs will be covered. They are, therefore, subject to individual state laws.

Equally, though, there are some elements to the healthcare industry that are present in the federal space.

For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Association (FDA) is responsible for deciding whether or not new drugs and treatments will receive approval for legal sale in the country. These drugs are a definite part of interstate commerce. Therefore, as Congress has created the FDA, it may also have the authority for health care reform and insurance.

 

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