On Preventive Care Coverage, Let the People Choose

Michael F. CannonA federal judge in Texas is weighing whether to free consumers nationwide from an unconstitutional ObamaCare requirement that they purchase coverage they do not want, theWall Street Journalreports. He should do so.In September, Judge Reed O ’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that ObamaCare violates the Constitution by giving the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) the power to dictate particular types of coverage consumers must purchase. O’Connor ruled that provision unconstitutiona l because USPSTF members would have to receive Senate confirmation to wield such power. (They do not.)Maybe you don ’t care if those mandates violate the rights of individuals to make their own health care decisions and violate the Constitution. But what if they are also counter‐​productive? When ObamaCare’s preventive care coverage mandate tried to make contraceptives “free,” prices for hormones and oral contraceptivesskyrocketed. (See nearbyfigure.) How does that promote preventive care or reproductive rights?When the ACA made oral contraceptives “free” for most purchasers, prices for hormones and oral contraceptives began to rise rapidly. From May 2013 through May 2019, while real prices for nonprescription and prescription drugs overall rose just 12 percent and 37 percent, respectively, prices for hormones and oral contraceptives rose 108 percent — nearly three times the rate of growth for other prescripti...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs