Is A Health Insurance Mandate Unconstitutional?

Two Washington DC attorneys, David Rifkin and Lee Casey, argue in a Wall St. Journal opinion article, "Mandatory Insurance Is Unconstitutional" that a Federal requirement to purchase health insurance, including a tax or penalty on those who do not have health insurance, is unconstitutional.

Federal legislation requiring that every American have health insurance is part of all the major health-care reform plans now being considered in Washington. Such a mandate, however, would expand the federal government’s authority over individual Americans to an unprecedented degree. It is also profoundly unconstitutional.

Read the complete article here.

Also, see my previous post on Thursday, August 27, 2009, "Is Government Mandated Health Insurance Constitutional?" about a Washington Post article by the same authors.