Federal health care legislation may be stunted, but states are not taking any chances. More and more states are proposing legislation set to counter any government imposed health insurance mandate on individuals or businesses. Less than a month ago 25 states had drafted some form of counter health care legislation. North Carolina’s version: the Health Care Protection Act (HCPA).
Today the Associated Press reports over two-thirds of the states have drafted some form of legislation to protect their citizens from federally imposed mandates.
It remains uncertain whether state legislation would have the force to trump federal law. More importantly, however, is the fact more and more states are taking action against the attack on individual and states’ rights – and realizing reform doesn’t have to come at the expense of liberty.
Individual mandates are one of the centerpieces of the Democratic reform plan as well as one of the most highly contended parts of the legislation. Half of the Nation’s states are standing up to government imposed health insurance mandates, and now so is North Carolina.
Under the Dome reports, North Carolina House Minority Leader Rep. Paul Stam and Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger announced plans to develop state legislation entitled the “Health Care Protection Act” that would counter the Federal government’s move to force individuals to purchase health insurance. They argue people should be free to choose their own insurance plans and have the option to pay out of pocket for their medical expenses.
Do states have the power to opt out of a federal law? It is arguable they do if the federal law is unconstitutional. Imposing individual mandates can easily be construed as a direct attack on our basic freedoms, as stated in the 10th amendments to the U.S. Constitution, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” And to many, this action by the Federal government to impose costly mandates on individuals in a dire economic time is doubly offensive.
One thing is clear; this radical erosion of our liberties has not only shifted the issue of individual rights to the center of the health care debate, but has also brought what seems the long forgotten issue of states’ rights back to the forefront of political discourse.
Over half of the Nation’s states are standing up to health insurance mandates by introducing state legislation protecting individual rights.
Both the House and Senate health reform bills contain health insurance mandates that will force every American to purchase health insurance that meets the standards set in place by the government.
Those who choose to opt out will have to pay hundreds of dollars in penalties and fees, millions will remain uninsured, and the added cost burden to the states will be unprecedented. Furthermore and contrary to popular belief, mandates will in no way reduce the cost of health care. Massachusetts, a precursor state in implementing health insurance mandates, has seen health care costs go up by 42 percent, while nearly a quarter of its residents remain uninsured.
Check out my latest article on this important issue.