Medicare at Home Act

The proposed amendment to establish a Medicare home care benefit falls squarely within Congress's enumerated power to tax and spend for the general welfare, as the program is a form of federal spending designed to promote the health and well-being of the elderly. The Social Security Act, including its Medicare provisions, has been consistently upheld as a valid exercise of this power. Moreover, the Necessary and Proper Clause empowers Congress to adopt such measures as are appropriate to execute its taxing and spending authority. The bill does not commandeer state governments or infringe upon …

The Constitution enumerates specific powers to the federal government, and nowhere does it authorize a general welfare benefit such as home care for the elderly or infirm. The Tenth Amendment reserves all powers not delegated to the United States to the states or the people. A federal Medicare home care benefit exceeds the limited, enumerated powers of Congress, particularly as the general welfare clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) is not a grant of unlimited authority to provide for all domestic needs, but rather a limitation on taxing and spending for the common defense and general welf…

The proposed legislation exceeds the enumerated powers of Congress as defined in the Constitution. The power to provide for the general welfare is limited to the specific objects enumerated in Article I, Section 8, and does not extend to a general police power over health or home care. The Tenth Amendment reserves all powers not delegated to the United States to the States or the people. Establishing a Medicare home care benefit would create a new, indefinite federal obligation not grounded in any enumerated power, such as regulating interstate commerce or providing for the common defense. Mor…

The Constitution vests Congress with power 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. A statute establishing a home care benefit under Medicare is a lawful exercise of the spending power, for it disburses public funds for the general welfare of the aged and infirm. The necessary and proper clause further authorizes Congress to enact any law which is convenient or useful to the execution of this enumerated power. The means chosen—amending title XVIII of the Social Security Act—are plainly …