By: Jane M. Orient, M.D.
Tucson, AZ Now that U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson has declared the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) void because it is unconstitutional, implementation should cease, states the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
While the Judge did not issue an injunction prohibiting implementation, he stated that his “declaratory judgment is the functional equivalent of an injunction.” This is so because of the long-standing presumption “that officials of the Executive Branch will adhere to the law as declared by the court.”
The Obama White House, however, called the decision “a plain case of judicial overreaching,” and intends to proceed without interruption to carry out the law. Two courts have now declared the individual mandate unconstitutional, while two have upheld it. The Supreme Court will ultimately resolve the issue.
“Whenever the legislature passes a law that progressives object to, such as regulations on abortion, courts immediately stay enforcement,” notes AAPS executive director Jane M. Orient, M.D. But this case is apparently very different.
“Congress defied the will of American voters in passing the Act,” she stated, “and now the Administration will defy the Court, spending billions of dollars on implementing the Act while the courts proceed.”
Individuals and businesses are already being forced to alter their financial decisions in anticipation of the mandate’s taking effect in 2014, the Judge noted.
The harm that many anticipate from the Act is shown by the 773 waivers that HHS has already issued to protect current benefits.
The Judge cited Congress itself concerning the dependence of the Act on the individual mandate. In fact, in including it, Congress was “essentially admitting that the Act will have serious negative consequences, e.g., encouraging people to forego health insurance until medical services are needed, increasing premiums and costs for everybody, and thereby bankrupting the health insurance industry.”
The individual mandate is imposed to try to avert adverse consequences of the Act itself. Applying the Necessary and Proper Clause to justify it would have the perverse effect that the more disruptive a statute is, the more “necessary” a statutory fix would be.
“Senators need to abide by their oath to uphold the Constitution, and act promptly to repeal this unconstitutional bill,” Dr. Orient stated.
Jane M. Orient, M.D., On Air contributor speaking on Healthcare Reform. Dr. Orient has appeared on some of the largest TV and Radio Networks in the country and her op-eds have been printed in hundreds of local and national newspapers, magazines, internet, followed on major blogs and covered in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
Doctor Orient is the Executive Director of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and has been in solo practice of general internal medicine since 1981. She is a clinical lecturer in medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She received her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Arizona, and her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is the author of Sapira’s Art and Science of Bedside Diagnosis; the fourth edition has just been published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. She also authored YOUR Doctor Is Not In: Healthy Skepticism about National Health Care, published by Crown. She is the executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a voice for patients’ and physicians’ independence since 1943. Complete curriculum vitae posted at www.drjaneorient.com. Additional information on health-related issues: www.aapsonline.org and www.takebackmedicine.com.
Dr. Orient’s position on healthcare reform: “The Healthcare plan will increase individual health insurance costs, and if the federal government puts price controls on the premiums, the companies will simply have to go out of business. Promises are made, but the Plan will deliver higher costs, more hassles, fewer choices, less innovation, and less patient care.”
Doctor Orient resides in Tucson, AZ and can be reached at (520) 323-3110 or [email protected].
