Obamacare violates Due Process & Equal Protection

·       As the President has granted numerous waivers and exemptions to states, government entities, and companies, the Supreme Court’s “tax” ruling has resulted in some concerns. We are concerned the health care tax (or penalty in deference to the President) will be levied in violation of our equal protection rights under the Constitution. The tax is clearly not progressive, but punitive in nature. All citizens, companies, municipalities, and states should have the taxes, or penalties equally applied, or equally exempted.  If they are progressively applied, they should be applied equally within each class.

·       The implementation of the health care bill, prior to, and subsequent to the Supreme Court ruling has been in apparent violation of the equal protection provisions of the Constitution, as stated above. My employer has already deducted the “premium tax” in 2012 in anticipation of full implementation in 2014. This deduction would appear to create an economic impact or “tax” deduction and a violation of the equal protection provisions, inasmuch, other tax payers, companies, municipalities, and states have been exempted, or by other construct have not had to pay the tax – deemed a penalty with equal application. 

·       If, as the President has insisted, the health care tax is a penalty, there is the concept of due process. The Constitution protects an individual’s rights by limiting government power and providing judicial review and certain procedural protections. Due process standards, either substantive or procedural refers to a requirement that laws and regulations be related to a legitimate government interest and not contain provisions that result in the unfair or arbitrary (unequal) treatment of an individual. The 5th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States states that “no person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” This right was extended to the states by the 14th Amendment (1868). Fundamental to procedural due process are adequate notice before the government can deprive one of life, liberty, or property, and the opportunity to be heard (judicial procedure) and defend one's rights.

·       Evidence presented in state and in Congressional hearings, and statements from the Executive Branch of government have indicated a great deal of the unpaid health care costs have resulted from non-citizens who are not eligible to gain health insurance through employers. We are struggling to understand why the state or federal governments have not petitioned the parent country (ies) for payment. Further, this presents an equal protection concern, as non-citizens and the indigent are exempted by a non-progressive and equally applied tax to support public health care delivery. Public Health care delivery in Mexico is accomplished via an elaborate provisioning and delivery system instituted by the Mexican Federal Government. Public health care is provided to all Mexican citizens as guaranteed via Article 4 of the Constitution. Public care is either fully or partially subsidized by the federal government, depending on the person's (Spanish: derechohabiente's) employment status. All Mexican citizens are eligible for subsidized health care regardless of their work status via a system of health care facilities operating under the federal Secretariat of Health (formerly the Secretaria de Salubridad y Asistencia, or SSA) agency. 

·       As they are covered, why has the state or federal government not petitioned Mexico and other nations for reimbursement through the health care delivery plans guaranteed to their citizens?