NEJM: SCt Obamacare opinion "seems to have expanded federal power to tax people for “doing nothing,” the primary fear that brought this case to court"

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMhle1208437

HEALTH LAW, ETHICS, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Reframing Federalism — The Affordable Care Act (and Broccoli) in the Supreme Court

Wendy K. Mariner, J.D., M.P.H., Leonard H. Glantz, J.D., and George J. Annas, J.D., M.P.H.

N Engl J Med 2012; 367:1154-1158September 20, 2012

"Remarkably, given all the commentary about the importance of this case to the future authority of the federal government, none of the opinions made any attempt to limit the currently broad power to regulate interstate commerce that the federal government currently possesses. Rather, the Court seems to have expanded federal power to tax people for “doing nothing,” the primary fear that brought this case to court. It is hard to believe that this power is as expansive as the chief justice suggested, but his opinion did not discuss limitations. The current taxing power certainly would permit an increased income or payroll tax to expand Medicare or create a new federal substitute for Medicaid. However, the limits of the taxing power probably will not be tested soon. It is the power that Congress is least likely to exercise in an era of widespread antipathy to tax increases."