The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Constitutional Challenges

Author(s):  
Mel Cousins
2013 ◽  
Vol 150 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Rocke ◽  
Steven Thomas ◽  
Liana Puscas ◽  
Walter T. Lee

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
OR BASSOK

AbstractAs long as the American Constitution serves as the focal point of American identity, many constitutional interpretative theories also serve as roadmaps to various visions of American constitutional identity. Using the debate over the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, I expose the identity dimension of various interpretative theories and analyse the differences between the roadmaps offered by them. I argue that according to each of these roadmaps, courts’ authority to review legislation is required in order to protect a certain vision of American constitutional identity even at the price of thwarting Americans’ freedom to pursue their current desires. The conventional framing of interpretative theories as merely techniques to decipher the constitutional text or justifications for the Supreme Court’s countermajoritarian authority to review legislation and the disregard of their identity function is perplexing in view of the centrality of the Constitution to American national identity. I argue that this conventional framing is a result of the current understanding of American constitutional identity in terms of neutrality toward the question of the good. This reading of the Constitution as lacking any form of ideology at its core makes majority preferences the best take of current American identity, leaving constitutional theorists with the mission to justify the Court’s authority to diverge from majority preferences.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Denis A Vaughan ◽  
Irene Dimitriadis ◽  
Eric Scott Sills ◽  
Kelly Pagidis

Objective: The Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ACA), or “Obamacare”, represents the most substantial reform of the U.S. healthcare system since the 1965 creation of Medicare and Medicaid. This investigation sought to ascertain knowledge and opinion among physicians providing women’s healthcare services about how this national health program will impact access to fertility treatments.Methods: Between May-July 2014, doctor’s perceptions of ACA were registered by anonymous questionnaire submitted to program directors and house staff at 50 accredited obstetrics & gynecology training centers in USA. Self-reported political preferences were also tabulated for each respondent.Results: Overall, 53.3% of participants (n = 114) claimed familiarity with ACA although this varied significantly by seniority (68.8% of faculty vs. 40% of trainees; p = .003). Among respondents 54.9% identified as liberal, 23% as moderate, and 19.5% as conservative. Most physicians in this sample (51.8%) anticipated a positive impact on assisted fertility care from ACA, 17.9% predicted an adverse effect, and just under one third (30.3%) either had no opinion or were unable to make a prediction.Conclusions: This study offers the first analysis of women’s healthcare physicians’ opinion about the impact of ACA on assisted fertility services. Our report finds low general familiarity of ACA among doctors. Moreover, marked divisions of opinion exist among physicians concerning the ACA in general, as well as what role the ACA should play in the provision of assisted fertility care specifically. If U.S. physicians are to provide leadership on women’s healthcare policy initiatives with a view to reach consensus (especially with respect to assisted fertility services), improved awareness of the ACA and its sequela will be crucial.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 154-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Yuh ◽  
Marc A. Dall’Era ◽  
David F. Penson ◽  
Christopher P. Evans

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