Yesterday, Judge George Caram Steeh, a federal judge in Michigan, ruled that ObamaCare's requirement that all individuals purchase health insurance is justified under the Constitution's Commerce Clause. The decision (pdf) is worth reading, but here's the key passage:
Far from "inactivity," by choosing to forgo insurance plaintiffs are making an economic decision to try to pay for health care services later, out of pocket, rather than now through the purchase of insurance, collectively shifting billions of dollars, $43 billion in 2008, onto other market participants.
So while the Commerce Clause had previously been expanded to include all economic activity that affects interstate commerce, it has now, under this ruling, been further expanded to encompass all economic decisions that may, at some point in the future, have some effect on such commerce.
Peter Suderman, Allahpundit, and Ilya Somin all have posts worth reading on the topic. Let us know what you think.
