UF marks Constitution Day with program about 'Obamacare' court decision

September 4, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law in 2010, the controversial health care overhaul was both praised and panned by various groups. In June 2012, however, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law in the case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.

The University of Florida will take a closer look at the health care reform issue in celebration of this year’s Constitution Day with a discussion, “The Affordable Care Act: The U.S. Constitution Meets Health Care Reform.” The event will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. Sept. 17 at the UF Levin College of Law’s Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center courtroom. The event is free and open to the public.

The discussion will feature UF law professor Steven Willis and Shands HealthCare Associate General Counsel and UF law adjunct professor Andrei Boyarshinov representing two different viewpoints regarding the Affordable Care Act.

Willis is a longtime member of UF Law’s top-ranked Graduate Tax faculty. He wrote an amicus brief for the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Affordable Care Act, and has published three law review articles on the case: “Of Constitutional Decapitation and Healthcare” and “Oy Yes, the Healthcare Penalty is Unconstitutional” in Tax Notes, and “No Health Care Penalty? No Problem: No Due Process” in the American Journal of Law & Medicine.

Boyarshinov is a senior attorney for managed care and network development, commercial transactions and risk management for the $1 billion-plus health system closely affiliated with the UF Health Science Center, including two major academic centers, Shands at the University of Florida and Shands at Jacksonville, both advanced acute care teaching facilities, three hospital joint ventures, one behavioral health hospital and one comprehensive medical rehabilitation hospital. He also teaches Health Care Finance and Delivery at UF Law.

UF’s Constitution Day Program continues with two open-mic readings of the U.S. Constitution, one from 11 a.m. to noon in the foyer of the Advocacy Center, where attendees will receive complimentary cake, lemonade and a U.S. Constitution app for iPhone or Android phones; and the second from noon to 1 p.m. on the Plaza of the Americas outside Library West with complimentary cake, lemonade and printed pocket copies of the Constitution.

Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, and each year the University of Florida – along with other public funded universities – celebrate the day with special programs and activities. This year’s events are sponsored by the University of Florida, with support from the UF Levin College of Law, Smathers Libraries and the Graham Center.