States Balk at Health Care Mandate

The first time we saw opposition from the states revolved around Governors who pushed back from the expansion of entitlement programs they would have to pay for. Now we have this push against the health care mandate. For starters the mandate has been one of the few places where Democrats managed to find some common ground, even Obama, who was against the mandate before he was for one has shown support for the idea. The problem with the mandate is that it leads to a massive increase in the insurance rolls without a corresponding increase in services. Common sense, this leads to waiting lists as happened in Massachusetts. Additionally the "Fee/Tax" that exists for those who do not pay is quite high and failure to pay could even lead to jail time! So across the country we are seeing Federalism in action as the various state legislatures push against the health care plan in an attempt to exercise some sovereignty on the issue:

ST. PAUL — In more than a dozen statehouses across the country, a small but growing group of lawmakers is pressing for state constitutional amendments that would outlaw a crucial element of the health care plans under discussion in Washington: the requirement that nearly everyone buy insurance or pay a penalty

Approval of the measures, the lawmakers suggest, would set off a legal battle over the rights of states versus the reach of federal power — an issue that is, for some, central to the current health care debate but also one that has tentacles stretching into many other matters, including education and drug policy.

Opponents of the measures and some constitutional scholars say the proposals are mostly symbolic, intended to send a message of political protest, and have little chance of succeeding in court over the long run. But they acknowledge that the measures could create legal collisions that would be both expensive and cause delays to health care changes, and could be a rallying point for opponents in the increasingly tense debate.

Not surprisingly the advocates of these measures tend to be libertarians who would prefer a free market approach to the issue. In reality Article VI contains the supremacy clause which all but guarantees the law as Constitutional. Of course if it can be be defeated on a Federal level it would make the state acts moot to all along.