Uncertainty about the future of the health care reform grew deeper this week after a federal judge in Florida declared the entire health care law unconstitutional.
Insurance executives and analysts were quick to provide assurance that the Florida decision ”“ for the moment ”“ changes nothing. They told the Associated Press that the existing and new regulations of the Affordable Care Act will continue to be observed as the legal challenge proceeds toward the Supreme Court.
Yet the New York Times reported that the decision dismayed patients facing serious illness. A 28-year-old with Hodgkin’s lymphoma said she might be forced to stop treatment if the $2 million limit on her insurance plan is reinstated. Such caps on lifetime limits are now outlawed by the health law, but the future of such protections is uncertain.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson makes the far-reaching assertion that the health law is fatally flawed by its insurance mandate. As he acknowledged, the purpose of that provision is simply to ensure full financial participation in a system that will guarantee coverage for all. Without it, many will forgo buying insurance, counting on the system to cover their costs if they become ill or get injured.
Vinson said Congress does not have the power to require citizens to buy insurance. And the mandate, he argued, cannot simply be removed ”“ it is like an essential cog in a defective watch, “that needs to be redesigned and reconstructed by the watchmaker.”
If Vinson’s opinion stands, that may be the end of hopes that this law can evolve into sustainable health care reform. If Congress has to start over, it will be a long time before another plan for universal coverage emerges.
In this context, the furious debate over health care is a hopeful sign, It makes it more likely that any single opinion ”“ even one from a federal judge ”“ is unlikely to be the last word on the subject.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
