Legislative Update Archive
API supporting Constitutional Amendment that secures patients’ rights and stops individual mandatePublished: November 9, 2009 - The Alabama Policy Institute commends Alabama State Rep. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville, and State Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, for their prefiling and introduction of a constitutional amendment to protect the right of individuals to make their own health care choices. The Alabama Health Care Freedom Act will be introduced in the regular session of the Alabama Legislature which starts on Jan. 12, 2010. A constitutional amendment requires the Legislature to pass and then voter approval. Rep. Gipson’s constitutional amendment says, in part, “In order to preserve the freedom of all residents of Alabama to provide for their own health care, a law or rule shall not compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in any health care system … the purchase or sale of health insurance in private health care systems shall not be prohibited by law or rule ….”
“I believe we all recognize the need to help make health insurance more affordable and accessible for more people,” said Rep. Gipson. “However, creating new mandates for individuals and employers will not reduce costs or increase competition; it will trample on the rights of individuals to make their own health care choices and hurt our economy,” he asserted.
Sen. Beason said, “I believe Rep. Gipson is right in saying this amendment, if passed, gives us a vehicle for a constitutional and legal challenge on the proper roles of the federal government towards the states. Also, I don’t want government bureaucracies coming between my family’s decisions with doctors.”
“Rather than make quality health coverage more affordable, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a 2,034 page, $1.3 trillion health care overhaul that will, among many disastrous things, drive states deeper into unsustainable spending. The dramatic expansion of Medicaid would force states to spend an additional $34 billion over the next 10 years – on top of the already unsustainable Medicaid burden states face. Early estimates suggest that under the health care bills pending in Congress, over 237,000 people could be added to the Medicaid rolls in Alabama alone. The states have to say enough is enough and the Gipson/Beason measure is a way to prevent coercive, one size fits all big government coverage in Alabama by allowing citizens not to participate in any federal mandated takeover,” said Ciamarra.
The proposed constitutional amendment preserves the rights of individuals to pay directly for medical care—something not allowed in single-payer countries like Canada—and prohibits any individual from being penalized for not purchasing government-defined insurance. Any state attempt to require an individual to purchase health insurance—or forbid an individual from purchasing services outside of the required health care system—would be rendered unconstitutional.
“The bill we will introduce may cause a federalism clash if Congress passes a law with either of these provisions,” said Sen. Beason. Alabama will now join nine states (AK, GA, KS, LA, MO, MS, MO,NH, and UT) that have already publicly announced their intention to file legislation to protect their citizens from any health care mandates. Another 11 states have already filed or pre-filed similar legislation (AZ, FL, IN, MN, ND, NM, MI, OH, PA, WV, WY). Arizona’s measure, which passed the legislature in June, will be put before voters on the 2010 ballot.
If the Gipson/Beason measures passes in the 2010 legislative session, it will be on the November 2, 2010 ballot.
The bi-partisan legislators group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) supports these state efforts.
The Alabama Policy Institute (www.alabamapolicy.org) is an independent, non-profit research and education organization. As a resource to federal, state and local government, the media and citizens, we research the issues being debated in Montgomery and Washington and provide our analysis and ideas through our publications and reports.
For information or comments, contact Michael Ciamarra, Vice-President of the Alabama Policy Institute, 402 Office Park Drive, Suite 300, Birmingham, Alabama 35223, (205) 870-9900 or e-mail michaelc@alabamapolicy.org.
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