Our Health Policy Matters

States battling to repeal new health reform mandates have settled on two issues that may well turn out to be political brick walls.   One issue is the requirement beginning in 2014 that individuals purchase insurance or pay an income tax surcharge, the so-called “individual mandate.”   The other is the federal expansion of the Medicaid program.   The battle is being joined in the courts, the Congress, and state legislatures. Most of the action so far has been in the courts.   Florida has filed a suit challenging both the individual mandate and Medicaid expansion.   CNN calls it the “highest profile” lawsuit of many, and 19 other states have joined it. Florida argues that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, contending that it’s unconstitutional for the federal government to require individuals to purchase health insurance by taxing them if they don’t.   As of last week, federal judges in both Michigan and Virginia have ruled against this position in ...

States battling to repeal new health reform mandates have settled on two issues that may well turn out to be political brick walls.   One issue is the requirement beginning in 2014 that individuals purchase insurance or pay an income tax surcharge, the so-called “individual mandate.”   The other is the federal expansion of the Medicaid program.   The battle is being joined in the courts, the Congress, and state legislatures. Most of the action so far has been in the courts.   Florida has filed a suit challenging both the individual mandate and Medicaid expansion.   CNN calls it the “highest profile” lawsuit of many, and 19 other states have joined it. Florida argues that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, contending that it’s unconstitutional for the federal government to require individuals to purchase health insurance by taxing them if they don’t.   As of last week, federal judges in both Michigan and Virginia have ruled against this position in ...