The U.S. Supreme Court, in secret session today, is debating whether to take up the issue of the constitutionality of the Obama administration's health care reform legislation, now dubbed the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
At issue is whether the law's individual mandate that all Americans must purchase insurance if it's not otherwise provided for them by their families, employers or others is constitutional. Backers of the bill claim the mandate is a perfectly legal extension of Congress's right to regulate interstate commerce, but opponents argue that regulating commerce is a far differ matter from mandating commerce from on high.
Previous reviews of the law by federal appeals courts are mixed, with the latest ruling in favor of the ACA being issued by Laurence Silberman, a conservative appointee of President Ronald Reagan, just this past week.
"The right to be free from federal regulation is not absolute and yields to the imperative that Congress be free to forge national solutions to national problems," Judge Silberman wrote in the 2-1 opinion for the District of Columbia Federal Appeals Court. Silberman was joined by Judge Harry Edwards, a President Jimmy Carter appointee.
Employers, keep your workforces cognizant of their rights and obligations under the ACA by procuring and prominently displaying Personnel Concepts' Health Care Reform Employee Information Poster.