Beware: Opponents of Health Reform!

By RWV Intern Sara Siegel

Before health care reform legislation has even been signed into law, conservative organizations are working in overdrive to ensure that states will not have to comply with federal health reform.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a “nonpartisan” organization that looks to advance the principles of free markets and limited government, has crafted a piece of model legislation under their Health and Human Services Task Force deceptively entitled “The Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act”.

This piece of legislation is making its way around many states, often at the hands of Republican lawmakers who wish to amend their state constitutions. In Pennsylvania, the Bill, Bill 2053, “would preserve individual rights to not take part in a government-run health care program, citing preservation of the patient-doctor relationship.”

By focusing on removing the individual mandate, ALEC is trying to guarantee the failure of health reform. If these bills pass, prices would skyrocket with only those who need health reform buying into the system. As reported in The New York Times, “Many who favor a federal overhaul of health care say it can be affordable only if nearly everyone is required to carry insurance.”

According to the ALEC website, this ALEC initiative “has already been filed or prefiled in 30 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming” and “lawmakers in an additional five states—Kansas, Montana, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Utah—have publicly announced their intentions to file the legislation. A citizen-led initiative has also been announced in Colorado.”

Arizona appears to be the state currently furthest along in the process. In 2008, a proposed ballot amendment saying that no law “shall impose any penalty or fine, of any type, for choosing to obtain or decline health care coverage or for participation in any particular health care system or plan” was narrowly defeated by the state’s voters. But Arizona’s Legislature, which is controlled in both chambers by Republicans, voted to put the question back on the ballot as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment in 2010, meaning on November 2, Arizona citizens will be voting on House Concurrent Resolution 2014. However, Arizona State Representative Krysten Sinema, a Democrat, has said, “In contrast to the false message offered by ALEC, we need to be clear that states, in fact, need and support robust federal health reform and the Senate bill will help us get there.”

It is important for all supporters of affordable and accessible health care to recognize that these bills and ballot initiatives are designed to prevent health reform from being successful in the states. Stay tuned to RWV for more details and information about these efforts by opponents of reform.