Legal Commentary

Richard Epstein on the Reid Bill

By Jonathan H. Adler

While most of us have not had the time to peruse the Senate health care bill, much less analyse its various provisions, the University of Chicago?s Richard Epstein has already penned a sizable essay on why portions of the bill should be found unconstitutional. He summarizes:

In effect, the onerous obligations under the Reid Bill would convert private health insurance companies into virtual public utilities. This action is not only a source of real anxiety but also a decision of constitutional proportions, for it systematically strips the regulated health-insurance issuers of their constitutional entitlement to earn a reasonable rate of return on the massive amounts of capital that they have already invested in building out their businesses.

It?s an interesting argument.  Time permitting, I?ll comment on it later.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on December 21, 2009 (boomark / email).