Corporate Wellness Programs

Florida becomes ground zero in one more national controversy today as arguments start over whether the original landmark federal wellness and health care law championed by President Barack Obama is illegal.

In a federal courtroom in Pensacola, opponents of the rule, as well as Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and legal representatives of 19 other states, will compete the rule is unconstitutional because of a mandate requiring everybody to take health and wellness programs or to face a penalty opening in 2014.
"The federal government should not have the power to say how people spend their money," McCollum said. "The person mandate exceeds Congress' power and tramples on the constitution's notions of individual freedom and limited administration, violating states' sovereign rights."
The Obama management has asked U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson to send away the proceedings, arguing that the lawful action is premature because the insurance permission will not take result until 2014.
The states have "failed to show actual or imminent damage from a provision that will not go into result for several years," the U.S. Justice Department said in a legal argument filed previous month.
The federal administration also contends rule is a valid exercise of Congress' power to tax and use. And it rebuts influence from the states that rule imposes costly expansions of their Medicaid programs by pointing out contribution in the federal-health care and wellness program for the deprived and disabled is voluntary.
In a state where one out of each five inhabitants has no insurance, the debate over the wellness and health care law has full on a high profile.