ALG Condemns House for Enacting $2.5 Trillion "ObamaCare"; Encourages States to Attack Individual Mandate

"Without the individual mandate, ObamaCare will lose much of
its teeth. The American people owe Attorney General Cuccinelli a debt
of gratitudefor taking the initiative to overturn to most egregious assault
on individual liberty in a generation."

—ALG President Bill Wilson.

ALG Condemns House for Enacting $2.5 Trillion "ObamaCare";
Encourages States to Attack Individual Mandate

March 22nd, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today condemned the House of Representatives for enacting what he termed "the government takeover of health care that will ration treatment, increase the cost of premiums, and force Americans onto government-run insurance."

Last night, the House passed the Senate version of "ObamaCare" 219 to 212. Wilson encouraged states, like Virginia, to pursue their plans to sue against the constitutionality of the federal mandate that individuals purchase health insurance.

Wilson said that the "Constitution does not permit Congress to enact any mandate for individuals to purchase anything, let alone health insurance."

According to the Roanoke Times, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will file his suit against the individual mandates tomorrow. "With this law, the federal government will force citizens to buy health insurance, claiming it has the authority to do so because of its power to regulate interstate commerce," Cuccinelli said. "We contend that if a person decides not to buy health insurance, that person – by definition – is not engaging in commerce, and therefore, is not subject to a federal mandate."

"The individual mandate is the mechanism that will force the American people on to government-run health care," Wilson said.

"By design, ObamaCare makes insurance premiums more
expensive and more unaffordable by mandating minimum levels of coverage. Now, as individuals are forced to purchase plans that they cannot afford, they will have no choice but to opt into a government plan, like Medicaid," Wilson explained.

The relevant Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report stated, "CBO and JCT estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law… Average premiums per policy in the nongroup market in 2016 would be roughly $5,800 for single policies and $15,200 for family policies under the proposal, compared with roughly $5,500 for single policies and $13,100 for family policies under current law."


The Senate version of the bill that the House adopted expands Medicaid eligibility to 133 percent of the poverty level. Wilson predicted that would be expanded further "as Congress conspires to make privately-bought insurance completely unaffordable."

Wilson said that without the individual mandate, "ObamaCare will lose much of its teeth. The American people owe Attorney General Cuccinelli a debt of gratitude for taking the initiative to overturn to most egregious assault on individual liberty in a generation."