The Founders Loved Mandates?

Take the 1790 and 1798 acts governing the merchant marine. The first one, enacted July 20, 1790 (“1 Stat. 131” is the citation in the U.S. Statutes at Large), Elhauge describes as requiring “that ship owners buy medical insurance for their seamen.” He refers to section 8 of the act. It requires that every American ship over a certain tonnage, going to sea in international commerce, “be provided with a chest of medicines, put up by some apothecary of known reputation, and accompanied by directions for administering the same.” It further requires that the medicines be annually inspected and freshly supplied when depleted or spoiled, and

in default of such medicine chest so provided and kept fit for use, the master or commander of such ship or vessel shall provide and pay for all such advice, medicine, or attendance of physicians, as any of the crew shall stand in need of in case of sickness, at every port or place where the ship or vessel may touch or trade at during the voyage, without any deduction from the wages of such sick seaman or mariner.

Before you say, “Wow, no deductible or co-pay for the sick seaman,” notice two things. First, this provision is a regulation of commerce in which someone is already engaged (the ships’ owners and masters, and the seamen), as many commentators have long since noted. (And Elhauge’s unpersuasive retort that everyone is also “in” the commerce of our health-care system was thoroughly covered in the Supreme Court argument.)

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/297347/founders-loved-mandates-matthew-j-franck?pg=2