Law Commons^™

Party Polarization And Judicial Review: Lessons From The Affordable Care Act, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

Congress paid nearly no attention to the Constitution when enacting the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010. Legislative hearings and committee reports ignored the Constitution altogether; legislative debates largely did the same. This Essay both highlights Congress’s indifference to the Constitution when enacting the ACA and examines the reasons behind this legislative failure. In particular, this Essay advances three explanations. First, Congress is generally uninterested in “public goods” like constitutional interpretation. Second, the polarization of Democrats and Republicans in Congress further depresses Congress’s interest in thinking about the Constitution; instead, the majority party seeks to limit opportunities for the minority …

Open Sesame - Anatomy Of Regulatory Regime For Foreign Investment In China’S Private Health Insurance Market, Tao Liang

Tao LIANG

Why Congress Did Not Think About The Constitution When Enacting The Affordable Care Act, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cobra Subsidies: A Compelling Narrative Of Policy Impact On The Unemployed, Uninsured, Hannah N. Gregg

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes a 2009 U.S. policy which provided short term federal subsidies for COBRA health insurance premiums. COBRA allows the recently unemployed to continue purchasing health insurance through their employment-based insurance plan for a short time period after they become unemployed. Early analysis found low take-up rates for COBRA insurance due to the exceedingly high cost of full health insurance premiums, especially for those who have just lost a steady employment income. A short term 65 percent federal subsidy for COBRA insurance was implemented as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. Subsidy policy proposed …

The Individual Mandate And The Taxing Power, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article, prepared for a symposium at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University, considers whether the Taxing Clause provides an alternative constitutional basis, as some have recently argued, for the individual mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 21 - the requirement, going into effect in 214, that most individuals acquire satisfactory health insurance or pay a penalty. The article concludes that the Taxing Clause arguments are misguided. At best, the Clause can provide authority for the penalty, not for the mandate as a whole. Furthermore, the article questions whether the penalty will …