"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."

Ben Franklin

As for the General Welfare Clause...the constitution then goes on to define all the the rights along with Provide for the Common Defense. As I understand the constitution, those rights not specifically enumerated to Congress lie with the states. Public healthcare is not a federal responsibility....

But, be careful of what you ask for. Dependence on the government can create a tyranny just as quickly as a hungry mass can allow for a tyranny be made.

"Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition."
Thomas Jefferson

Don't think the fed can impose it's will once it starts paying the total sum of healthcare? Federal highway funds are an excellent example of the fed imposing it's will, and supported by the USSC. The precedent is set. Once the fed is footing the bill for healthcare....you don't think that at some point they will begin to tell you what you can and can' t do for risk of your healthcare bills? They already do.

I can't agree with you that it's a right....a moral obligation, maybe. I would have an easier time digesting the idea if I actually saw enough people that gave a shit about taking care of themselves and not just interested in the financial aspect of healthcare. It's the benjamins that seems to be the concern here.....healthcare is really just a convenient vehicle for the people to vote themselves more money. Meanwhile...we will continue to eat and smoke our way into pre-existing conditions and chronic disease.

Point is....healthcare isn't the driving factor here....cost is. Your argument that it is a right is bollocks. It wasn't a right 230 years ago any more than it is a right today.... It's a personal responsibility before it is anything. You are free to live with the choice you made....until you vote in Uncle Sam to make the choice for you.