Daily Rounds: Real Obamacare Argument; New Carney Chief; Mad Cow; Seized Condoms

Why the mandate is constitutional: The real argument (New York Review of Books) - "If the Court does declare the act unconstitutional, it would have ruled that Congress lacks the power to adopt what it thought the most effective, efficient, fair, and politically workable remedy—not because that national remedy would violate anyone’s rights, or limit anyone’s liberty in ways a state government could not, or be otherwise unfair, but for the sole reason that in the Court’s opinion our constitution is a strict and arbitrary document that denies our national legislature the power to enact the only politically possible national program."

Steward names new president of Carney Hospital (The Boston Globe) - "Less than two weeks after it abruptly lost its president, Carney Hospital in Dorchester has found a replacement. On Tuesday, Steward Health Care System, which owns the 186-bed hospital, named Andy Davis as Carney’s new president. Davis, the former chief executive of the Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville, N.C., will start at Carney on May 7. Davis, who was in the hospital yesterday to meet with the staff, said his priorities would be 'patient satisfaction, physician relations, and physicians recruitment.'"

Mad cow disease is found in California dairy cow (The Boston Herald) - SAN JOSE, Calif. — "In an announcement that could raise new questions about food safety and result in economic setbacks to California’s multi-billion-dollar agricultural industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday confirmed that a case of mad cow disease has been found in a dairy cow in the state’s Central Valley. The incident represents the first time the disease has been found in California — and the first case in the United States since 2006."

Giving away and then seizing condoms (The New York Times) - "One arm of the government is giving people condoms. Another arm is confiscating them from the very people who are most vulnerable to catching bugs and passing them along. How, precisely, does this make sense?"

Los Angeles is betting on one crusading doc to turn public health system around (Kaiser Health News) - "Los Angeles, the nation's second largest city with some 2 million uninsured residents, has long had one of the most disorganized systems. To fix it, Katz, the former director of San Francisco's health department, insists on seeing patients at this public health clinic one afternoon a week. It’s a demand that struck many as odd, if not impossible. How would Katz have time to treat patients with a system in ruin?"

The next health care overhaul? Look to employers (Bloomberg Business Week) - "If the Supreme Court strikes down President Barack Obama's health care law, employers and insurance companies — not the government — will be the main drivers of change over the next decade and maybe even longer.They'll borrow some ideas from Obamacare, and push harder to cut costs. Business can't and won't take care of America's 50 million uninsured, but for the majority with coverage, here's what experts say to expect."