March 26, 2012

JHU expert in bioethics and law to discuss individual mandate

The Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics Seminar Series will examine the federal individual health insurance mandate today, March 26, just as the Supreme Court begins three days of oral arguments on the federal health care law.

Leslie Meltzer Henry, associate faculty at the Berman Institute and an assistant professor of law at the University of Maryland, will deliver the seminar talk, “Constitutionality of the Individual Mandate.” Henry is co-author of “Commerce Games and the Individual Mandate,” to be published in April by the Georgetown Law Journal.

Henry will focus in particular on whether the individual mandate, which requires Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a tax, is constitutional.

The seminar will be held from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Room W3008 of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and lunch will be provided.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under consideration by the court was the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s domestic legislative agenda, and now may play a crucial role in the 2012 presidential election.