MICHAEL C. DORF
The Constitutionality of Health Insurance Reform, Part I: The Misguided Libertarian Objection
In the first in a two-part series of columns rebutting constitutional objections to health insurance reform, FindLaw columnist and Cornell law professor Michael Dorf takes on the objection that the "individual mandate" -- which would require Americans to either buy health insurance or face a financial penalty -- is unconstitutional. Dorf begins by explaining why, once insurers are barred from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, the individual mandate will be vital. He then focuses on a paper by libertarian Michael Cannon as a good statement of the objection to the individual mandate, and argues that Cannon's constitutional arguments do not ultimately hold water. In particular, Dorf cites a list of affirmative obligations placed by government upon individuals that have never raised, and should not raise, doubts about their constitutionality. Wednesday, October 21, 2009

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20091021.html