Affordable Care Act is Under Review at the Supreme Court
March 26, 2012
Dear AMWA Readers:
The next three days marks an important period in women’s health advocacy and legislative policy decision making. AMWA has joined the National Women’s Law Center and the Coalition to Protect Women’s Health to advocate for the future of women’s health. We encourage you to stay informed on this controversial topic and get involved. The future of women’s health depends on it!
Protect Women’s Healthcare. Protect the Law. Below is a brief summary of the healthcare law debate. We encourage you to visit the National Women’s Law Center and the Coalition to Protect Women’s Health to learn more.
U. S. Supreme Court Law Healthcare Law Review
The Supreme Court will start a three day review of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). One side says the Affordable care act will provide health insurance for the uninsured while with other party claims government is overstepping its boundaries by requiring Americans to buy health insurance. Health and legal policy experts will debate the proposed law over the next three days and a landmark decision is expected to be reached by the end of June. Republicans are calling into question the limits of congressional regulatory power.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle included the following quote
“If the Supreme Court strikes down the entire Affordable Care Act, this will be the first major federal regulatory law invalidated since 1936,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Irvine’s School of Law. “If the court upholds the law, there will be an important social and economic effect.”
Social and Economic Effects
It is estimated that 50 million people have no insurance and the cost of uncompensated care for the uninsured is around $43 billion annually. Health care in the United States is a multitrillion-dollar industry however hospitals make up the difference of uncompensated care for the uninsured by charging higher rates to the insured.
The Supreme Court justices will have to consider whether the law’s health insurance mandate falls outside of the Constitution’s commerce clause, which gives Congress regulatory power only when matters of interstate commerce are involved. Opponents argue that while the Constitution grants Congress the power to pass laws that regulate interstate economic activity, the government should not be able to tell someone to go out and engage in an activity or commerce. Proponents argue that it is necessary to require coverage for everyone to ensure that the insurance risk pool is large enough to handle the law’s other main provision that would prevent insurance companies from charging higher premiums or refusing coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions.
The American Medical Women’s Association is an organization which functions at the local, national, and international level to advance women in medicine and improve women’s health. We achieve this by providing and developing leadership, advocacy, education, expertise, mentoring, and through building strategic alliances. Join us at www.amwa-doc.org
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