Pay PCPs Act of 2026

The bill is a valid exercise of Congress's power to provide for the general welfare under Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. Medicare, as a program for the health care of the elderly and disabled, falls squarely within the scope of the 'general Welfare' as the Founders understood it. The establishment of hybrid primary care payments is a means to improve the efficiency and quality of care, which is a proper object of federal spending. There is no encroachment on state powers, as the program is voluntarily participated in by providers and beneficiaries. The Constitution does not forbid such a meas…

The Constitution vests in Congress only enumerated powers, and the general welfare clause is not a grant of unlimited authority to legislate on matters of domestic policy. The Tenth Amendment reserves to the states and the people all powers not delegated. The establishment of a federal payment system for medical care, such as this hybrid primary care scheme under Medicare, exceeds the limited sphere of federal jurisdiction. It is not within the enumerated powers of Congress, nor is it necessary and proper for executing any granted power. The Ninth Amendment further reminds us that the people r…

This bill concerns the administration of the Medicare program, a federal health insurance system established under the taxing and spending power of Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the authority to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1). The Medicare program is a valid exercise of this power, and the proposed modification of payment mechanisms—specifically hybrid primary care payments—falls within the necessary and proper means of executing that …

The Constitution vests in Congress the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States. The establishment of hybrid primary care payments under the Medicare program is a fitting exercise of the spending power, as it adjusts the means by which the public fisc is applied to the health and welfare of the people. The laws of the United States, being supreme and necessary and proper for carrying into execution the enumerated powers, may direct the disbursement of funds in such manner as to pro…