Last week I noted that Virginia was about to enact a law outlawing the ObamaCare individual mandate which force a person to buy health whether the wanted it or needed it, or not.
The states rights legislation is spreading like wildfire.
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Excerpted from WSJ: Health Backlash in the States, Feb. 20, 2010
The backlash against ObamaCare is moving beyond the Tea Parties and has now arrived in state capitals.
In more than 30 states, legislators are proceeding to pass statutes or ballot initiatives that would guarantee the right to choose medical services and insurance.
These laws are generally called Health-Care Freedom Acts. If enacted, they will set off a Constitutional 10th Amendment fight over whether there are limitations on the powers of the federal government to regulate health care and override the protections in these state laws.
Almost all these measures would make it illegal for the government at any level to require a citizen of the state to purchase health insurance. This would let Americans opt out of any federal “individual mandate,” which makes people buy insurance or pay a tax, a la Massachusetts and both the House and Senate bills in Congress.
Second, the bills would guarantee the right of residents to pay directly for health services without incurring penalties or fines. This means citizens could go outside any government-run system to purchase private treatments from the doctor or hospital of their choice. Often, the federal Medicare program doesn’t let doesn’t let doctors charge extra for specialized care.
Virginia’s legislature has already passed such a law.
If Congress passes some version of health legislation, the federal law may pre-empt these state laws. But states do have the right to provide extra protections beyond what federal law guarantees. Many states, for example, have freedom of speech protections that go beyond federal law.
The major constitutional issue is whether Uncle Sam has the right to supercede state laws, based on the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, and compel Americans to join a federal health system, as they must with Social Security and Medicare.
Full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704804204575069821900574214.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop
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