HealthLawProf Blog

Fourth Circuit Judge Recognizes Taxing Power Authority

While a number of law professors have argued that the individual mandate to purchase health care is authorized under the taxing power of Congress, federal judges had uniformly rejected the argument--until two days ago. In a concurring opinion in Liberty University v. Geithner, Judge James Wynn (an Obama nominee) recognized the taxing power as a basis for the individual mandate. (I've discussed the validity of the individual mandate under the taxing power here.)

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Worth Reading This Week

Eleanor Kinney, Comparative Effectiveness Research under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Can New Bottles Accommodate Old Wine? SSRN/AJLM

Aaron Kesselheim &  Rahul Rajkumar, Who Owns Federally Funded Research? The Supreme Court and the Bayh–Dole Act, NEJM

Douglas Kahn & Jeffrey Kahn, The Unaffordable Health Act – A Response to Professors Bagley and Horwitz, SSRN/Mich. L. Rev. First Impressions

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Fourth Circuit Declines Role in ACA Fight

The Fourth Circuit has decided to sit out the Sixth Circuit v. Eleventh Circuit duel, citing a lack of jurisdiction in Liberty University Inc. v. Geithner, 4th Cir., No. 10-2347, here, and Virginia's lack of standing in Virginia ex rel. Cuccinelli v. Sebelius, 4th Cir., No. 11-1057, here. [NPT]

Recommended Blog and Podcast: The Incidental Economist

For those interested in health economics, I cannot recommend highly enough the Incidental Economist blog and podcast. Featuring an economist, a physician, and law professor Kevin Outterson, the IE blog has offered invaluable commentary on a number of vexed policy issues. The podcast has taken on issues ranging from all-payor rate setting to the rationale for randomized clinical trials.  Austin Frakt and Aaron Carroll offer an entertaining and educative experience in their podcasts.  If you're already listening to Health Affairs events or the JAMA and NEJM line-ups, this is an excellent in addition to your iPod playlist. 

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