Who Wants to Stay Uninsured?

Journalist Harris Meyer has a provocative post today on The Health Care Blog questioning the motives, and the silence, of two uninsured plaintiffs in a lawsuit to overturn health reform's federal mandate to purchase health insurance starting in 2014. Here's an excerpt:

Two uninsured people who insist on their right to remain uninsured have joined 20 states and the National Federation of Independent Business in suing to overturn the new federal law requiring all Americans to obtain health insurance or else pay a tax penalty.

But the public can't find out why the two new individual plaintiffs -- an auto repair shop owner in Panama City, Fla. and a retired lawyer/Wall Street banker living in Port Angeles, Wa. – oppose the insurance requirement because the lawyer spearheading the suit says they aren't speaking to the news media.

I particularly wanted to know how these two uninsured people have paid for health care for themselves and their families in the past and how they plan to pay for it in the future. So I asked David Rivkin, a partner at Baker Hostetler in Washington, D.C., who is representing them and the NFIB and serves as outside counsel for the states, if he could put me in touch with them. "They aren't public persons and don't want to give up their privacy," said Rivkin.

It's nice to see a reporter take a deeper look at who's participating in these lawsuits and whom the lawsuits are supposed to benefit. You'll want to similarly question your local plaintiffs who may join these health reform lawsuits.

Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don't forget to check out our medical marijuana reporting resources here. You need to be a registered member of ReportingonHealth.org to leave a comment, so if you haven't joined yet, click here. It's easy, quick and free. You can follow us on Twitter, too, @ReportingHealth.