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Last week I introduced a very
important piece of legislation that I hope will gain as much or more support
as my Audit the Fed bill. HR 4995, the End the Mandate Act will repeal
provisions of the newly passed health insurance reform bill that give the
government the power to force Americans to purchase government-approved
health insurance.
The whole bill is rotten, but this
provision especially is a blatant violation of the Constitution. Defenders
claim the Congress's constitutional authority to regulate "interstate
commerce" gives it the power to do this. However, as Judge Andrew Napolitano
and other distinguished legal scholars and commentators have pointed out,
even the broadest definition of "regulating interstate commerce"
cannot reasonably encompass forcing Americans to engage in commerce by
purchasing health insurance. Not only is it unconstitutional; it is a
violation of the basic freedom to make our own decisions regarding how best
to meet the health care needs of ourselves and our families.
The new law requires Americans to
have what is defined as "minimum essential coverage." Some people
may claim that the requirement to have "minimal essential coverage"
does not impose an unreasonable burden on Americans. There are two problems
with this claim. First, the very imposition of a health insurance mandate, no
matter how "minimal," violates the principles of individual liberty
upon which this country was founded.
Second, the mandate is unlikely to
remain "minimal" for long. The experience of states that allow
their legislatures to mandate what benefits health insurance plans must cover
has shown that politicizing health insurance inevitably makes it more
expensive. As the cost of government-mandated health insurance rises,
Congress will likely respond by increasing subsidies for more and more
Americans, adding astronomically to our debt burden. An insurance mandate
undermines the entire principle of what insurance is supposed to measure -
risk.
Another likely response to rising
costs is the imposition of price controls on medical treatments, and limits
on what procedures and treatments mandatory insurance will have to reimburse.
This is happening in other countries where government is intrinsically
involved in these decisions and people suffer and die because of it.
This will only increase the bottom
line of the very insurers the legislation was supposed to control. Meanwhile,
alternate methods of healthcare delivery and financing, such as concierge
doctors, alternative medicine, or physician owned hospitals will be greatly
harmed, if not put out of business altogether, when the entire country is
forced into the insurance model. It will be difficult for families to come up
with extra money to pay for alternate healthcare of their choice when their
budget has been squeezed by this mandate to buy insurance. This will in turn
reduce competition for healthcare dollars. Health insurers, like many other
corporations in other industries, have now used the legislative process
anti-competitively to corner the healthcare market. Instead of calling this
socialized medicine, we should call it corporatized medicine, since the
reform is to force us all into being customers of these corporations, whether
we like it or not.
Congress made a grave error by
forcing all Americans to purchase health insurance. The mandate violates
fundamental principles of individual liberty, and will lead to further
government involvement in health care. It is time for legislation that fights
back for the freedom of the people on this issue. It is time to End the
Mandate.
Ron Paul
www.house.gov/paul
Congressman
Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for
liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington
for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return
to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. For more
information click on the Project Freedom website.
Published
with the authorization of Dr. Paul.
Copyright
Dr. Ron Paul
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