States Freedom of Choice in Health Care Initiative
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This article is part of FreedomKentucky's Healthcare Project
Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act Initiative
American Legislative Exchange Council
American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, is the nation’s largest, nonpartisan membership association, with approximately 2,000 legislator members from all 50 states and 78 members of Congress.
ALEC has crafted a Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act that protects the rights of patients to pay directly for medical services, and it prohibits penalties levied on patients for declining participation in a particular health plan.
Example of Federal Bureaucrats Approach to the Simple Doctor -Patient Relationship
A chart has been prepared to depict the complexity of a federal approach to limiting free market dominance in providing health care. This example will change as proposed legislation changes. What won’t change is the bureaucratic approach that will be implemented to add time, cost and inefficiencies into a basic doctor and patient relationship.
HR 3962 was passed by the House of Representative on November 7, 2009 by 2 votes. This 2,032 page health care reform bill creates 111 new boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs.
States Setting Up Federal Fight on Health Care Reform
States are poised to challenge unlimited federal power mandating
The Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act has already been filed or prefiled in 14 states—Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Arizona voters will vote on language that follows in November 2010.
"No law shall be passed that restricts a person's freedom of choice of private health care systems or private plans of any type. No law shall interfere with a person's or entity's right to pay directly for lawful medical services, nor shall any law impose a 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."
Lawmakers in an additional 10 states—Alaska, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Montana, Tennessee, and Utah—have publicly announced their intentions to file the legislation.
An interactive map depicts those states with prepared legislation and those with intentions to file legislation.
Direct links to Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia language follow.
Arizona Health Care Act Initiative
A summary of the Arizona proposed language.
Minnesota Health Care Act Initiative
A summary of the Minnesota proposed legislation
Pennsylvania Health Care Act Initiative
A summary of the Pennsylvania proposed legislation
South Carolina Health Care Act Initiative
A summary of the South Carolina proposed legislation
West Virginia Health Care Act Initiative
A summary of the West Virginia proposed legislation
What's happening in Kentucky
A group of House lawmakers have sent a letter to Attorney General Jack Conway urging him to challenge the federal legislation based on incentives offered to Senators of other states.
The letter, signed by 29 Kentucky lawmakers, including House Minority Floor Leader Jeff Hoover, R- Jamestown, states: "The special deals contained in the bill to win support from Senators in Louisiana and Nebraska is undemocratic and results in inequitable compromises that impact Kentucky taxpayers."
It calls on Conway to "join with Attorneys General from Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington state to call on the Senate to remove the special language from the health care reform legislation which is unconstitutional, expensive, and inequitable to Kentuckians who did not receive special breaks from the Senate."
Read the entire letter here.
What the Health Care Bill means for Kentucky
The 2,074-page Senate health care bill: Who loses?
Kentucky’s unemployed and recently unemployed
- Temporary benefits doubtless will be supplied by government for those looking for work. Still, those who find a job after several months face a mountain of bills but would be denied the freedom to temporarily reduce, or drop, coverage until getting back on their feet.
Kentucky families
- A family of four earning $96,000 can expect to pay 19 percent of pretax income on premiums, copays and deductibles.
- Under the House plan, an estimated 18 million people will choose thousands of dollars in penalties over costlier premiums. Under the Senate plan, even more families will choose the much-lower fines ($750 per adult) and wind up with no coverage – the exact opposite of enabling argument for government interference in health care.
Kentucky’s current – and soon-to-be – seniors (including baby boomers)
- Medicare funding is slashed by reducing payments to hospitals, other patient institutions.
- Denial of preventive services that save – and lengthen – lives. Women between 40 years old and 50 years old are being pressured to forego mammograms altogether, settle for every two years thereafter and stop altogether after the age of 74.
Satisfied Kentuckians
- A 40-percent excise tax will be slapped on those who enjoy – and are willing to pay for – plans with additional benefits.
- Healthy Kentuckians over the age of 30 will be denied the freedom to keep minimum coverage via their existing catastrophic plans. They will be legally bound to switch to the government-designed comprehensive plan.
Some Estimated Impacts on Kentucky Insurance Premiums from Wellpoint
Wellpoint Wellpoint made some estimates on potential changes to insurance premiums to Kentuckians based on draft language in health care reform bills in Congress.
The first paragraph in their analysis summarizes how things will change.
“The impact of health care reform on health insurance premiums in Kentucky will vary significantly by market, due to the fact that the new and existing rules differ between the individual, small employer, and large employer markets. Furthermore, within the individual and small group markets, the impact on premiums will vary by the demographics (e.g., age, health status) of each individual and group. This is because the proposed reforms eliminate or constrain many of the rating factors and practices currently allowed by law and utilized by the industry in these markets, which result in premiums sometimes varying significantly by the risk of the individual and group. Thus, certain proposed reforms will result in lower-risk individuals and groups facing increased premium costs post-reform and higher-risk individuals and groups facing decreased premium costs post-reform. Additionally, other market reforms will generally increase premiums for everyone regardless of risk.”
Some estimates pulled from the October 2009 analysis report:
File:Wellpoint example impacts PDF.pdf
Read the entire October 2009 report to understand and appreciate the complexities of coverage and pricing.
File:Kentucky Premium Impacts Analysis-3.pdf
Following is an updated December 2009 analysis.
File:December 2009 Analysis Kentucky Update.pdf
A 40-year old family with 2 children with average health status in Louisville, KY could see an increase in out-of-pocket cost of approximately $4,500.
A small employer with 8 younger/healthier employees in Louisville, KY could see an increased cost of approximately $9,690.
A small employer with 8 average age and average health employees in Louisville, KY could see an increased cost of approximately $5,700.
A small employer with 8 older and less healthy employees in Louisville, KY could see a reduction in cost of approximately $24,570.
Look at the fine print. Redistribution of wealth is at work.
Detail Provisions That Legislators Put in Health Care Legislation
Congress has been pressured to hurry up and pass health care reform. The following video identifies key provisions contained but not highlighted to the general public in talking points that are very troubling. The details will change as health care legislation continues to modified. However, the approach taken by the Washington power plays will likely stay the same. The video below references HR 3200 HR3200
This is why Kentucky legislators need to pass legislation to protect Kentuckians from Washington congressional power players that are more interested in politics than effective health care reform.
See Also
