Originally Posted by nation-x

That is where you are mistaken. As a matter of fact, that point was stipulated to by the plaintiff in State of Florida v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just last week. The only contention is timing and whether or not the penalty is a tax or not (tax is constitutional, penalty is not)... the plaintiff stipulated that the government CAN force you to buy a product at the time of service.

I have been listening to the oral arguments on C-SPAN radio

Secondly, hospitals can't prove cost shifting due to Medicare. There is no loss... meaning that Medicare covers the cost... it just doesn't pay as much as private insurance or cash payers.