Yes Single Payer is Constitutional

JMM writes: "It’s worth noting that the upshot of the anti-mandate arguments being made before the Court this week is that a broadly market based approach like the Romney-Obama model is unconstitutional; but single payer would be constitutional."

Yesterday I wrote: "If they toss out the mandate, the only other way to reform health care is with a public option or with total socialized medicine (you know, like Medicare).  There could be a lot worse things happening such as the Supreme Court saying corporations are people and that money is speech.  That's a lot scarier than saying government can't force people to buy something and instead must use a public-run system to compete with private insurance providers so as not to create a slippery slope."

Another way of saying this is something applied universally is allowable.  Payroll taxes that pay for Medicare, an entirely single payer system, is okay because everyone pays it.  Such a system would make private insurance companies squirm and many would go under.  Doing that is what Republicans refer to as non-market based approaches.  The alternative to the single payer system is what we have now with ObamaCare: mandate people purchase insurance through private providers or pay a fine.  Do away with the mandate and we are left with a government-run system.  I still prefer the public option of allowing people to buy into Medicare if they don't want to purchase private plans but essentially the only way to save private providers is through the mandate.  Careful what you wish for.

I'm with Josh on this one.  It could be a lot worse.