In case we haven’t met, hi–I’m Molly and I’m a huge fan of School House Rock. Thanks those VHS’, I grew loving the checks and balances built into our government–the legislative branch creates the laws, the executive branch enforces the law, and the judicial branch interprets laws as constitutional or unconstitutional. Today we’re going to focus on the Supreme Court, the ultimate arbiter of the judicial branch. It is comprised of nine Justices with a lifetime appointment who hear and rule on cases that question federal constitutional issues or conflicts between states.
If you’ve been on social media, any news site, or turned on the T.V., you know that Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been nominated to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy. But we’re not going to delve into the allegations of sexual assault against him or the Judiciary Committee majority’s complete disregard for process, order, or even common decency today. No, we’re going to talk about the impact that one person, Judge Kavanaugh, can have on the entire U.S. health care system.Health care has certainly been on the agenda at #SCOTUS in nearly every recent decade as the federal government as gotten more involved in that policy area since creating the Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1965. But even dating back to Jacobson v. Massachusetts in 1905, when the Supreme Court upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination to protect the public health, SCOTUS has been involved in health issues.
Continue reading “Health Policy Hangs in the Judicial Balance” →