The Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) spans nearly 2,700 pages. So there should be no surprise that there are lots of questions about what the new law could mean for U.S. citizens who are struggling to obtain health care coverage.

Perhaps the biggest question of all is whether the law is even legal—and that question has been posed to the United States Supreme Court.  Appellate lawyer and constitutional law expert Carl Cecere of the law firm Hankinson LLP recently gave a preview of the case in an interview with Jane McGarry of NBC5.  According to Cecere, “The key question is … has the government gone beyond the powers vested in it by the Constitution” in enacting the law?

Cecere, who is an appellate lawyer with substantial experience in constitutional law, says that he believes that the high court will uphold the law based upon the opinions of the justices in earlier cases.

 Adds Cecere, the Act’s requirement that individuals insure themselves isn’t exactly unique in comparison to other obligations the government imposes upon us, like jury service or even the draft.   And he notes that even the Founders thought that the federal government could force individuals to purchase products.  The Militia Act of 1792, passed by many of the same members of Congress that drafted the Constitution in 1871, required that men between the ages of 18 and 44 purchase a musket and ammunition.

 Congress didn’t stop at muskets and ammo with the Militia Act:

 “…Every citizen, so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch, and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear so armed, accoutred and provided, when called out to exercise or into service, except, that when called out on company days to exercise only, he may appear without a knapsack.

Ironically, a quarter pound of gunpowder is enough to cause a substantial health insurance claim if not handled properly.