IDAHO COWBOY
Regular Member
imported post
Subject: "Reuters" - Montana Now 20th State to Defend Health Care Choice
>
>
>
> All,
>
> Representative Tom Mcgillvray, Senator Jeff Essmann, Senator Roy Brown and
> I
> will be making the formal announcement on Thursday (today), November 5 at
> Noon on the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn at 217 N. 27th Street, in
> Billings.
>
> I have attached a draft copy of the bill to this note. Please join us if
> you
> can.
>
> Montana Now 20th State to Defend Health Care Choice
> Thu Nov 5, 2009 1:05am EST
>
> WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The American Legislative
> Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation's largest individual membership
> association of state legislators, congratulates Montana State Senators Jim
> Shockley and Greg Hinkle for announcing their intent to introduce a
> constitutional amendment to protect the right of individuals to make their
> own health care choices. Montana now becomes the 20th state where
> legislators have introduced, or will introduce, legislation modeled after
> ALEC's Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act. The formal announcement will
> occur on Thursday, November 5 at Noon on the Yellowstone County Courthouse
> lawn at 217 N. 27th Street, in Billings.
>
> (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091014/ALECLOGO)
>
> "We all recognize the need to help make medical care and health insurance
> more affordable and accessible for more people," said Iowa Representative
> Linda Upmeyer, minority whip, family nurse practitioner, and chair of
> ALEC's
> Health and Human Services Task Force. "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," she added.
>
> The Montana 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 measure may also cause a
> federalism clash if Congress passes a law with either of these provisions.
>
> "This is not a battle that hasn't been fought before or won before," said
> Christie Herrera, health policy director for the American Legislative
> Exchange
> Council, a state legislator group coordinating the effort.
>
> "States are allowed to give greater constitutional protection than what is
> provided for in the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution provides a
> floor, not a ceiling, for the preservation of individual rights," Herrera
> added.
>
> Montana now joins legislators in eight states (AK, GA, KS, LA, MO, MS, 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.
>
> The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation's largest
> nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators.
>
>
> SOURCE American Legislative Exchange Council
>
> Jorge Amselle of the American Legislative Exchange Council,
> +1-202-742-8536,
> jamselle@alec.org
>
>
> Representative Cary Smith
> House District 55
>
Subject: "Reuters" - Montana Now 20th State to Defend Health Care Choice
>
>
>
> All,
>
> Representative Tom Mcgillvray, Senator Jeff Essmann, Senator Roy Brown and
> I
> will be making the formal announcement on Thursday (today), November 5 at
> Noon on the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn at 217 N. 27th Street, in
> Billings.
>
> I have attached a draft copy of the bill to this note. Please join us if
> you
> can.
>
> Montana Now 20th State to Defend Health Care Choice
> Thu Nov 5, 2009 1:05am EST
>
> WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The American Legislative
> Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation's largest individual membership
> association of state legislators, congratulates Montana State Senators Jim
> Shockley and Greg Hinkle for announcing their intent to introduce a
> constitutional amendment to protect the right of individuals to make their
> own health care choices. Montana now becomes the 20th state where
> legislators have introduced, or will introduce, legislation modeled after
> ALEC's Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act. The formal announcement will
> occur on Thursday, November 5 at Noon on the Yellowstone County Courthouse
> lawn at 217 N. 27th Street, in Billings.
>
> (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091014/ALECLOGO)
>
> "We all recognize the need to help make medical care and health insurance
> more affordable and accessible for more people," said Iowa Representative
> Linda Upmeyer, minority whip, family nurse practitioner, and chair of
> ALEC's
> Health and Human Services Task Force. "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," she added.
>
> The Montana 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 measure may also cause a
> federalism clash if Congress passes a law with either of these provisions.
>
> "This is not a battle that hasn't been fought before or won before," said
> Christie Herrera, health policy director for the American Legislative
> Exchange
> Council, a state legislator group coordinating the effort.
>
> "States are allowed to give greater constitutional protection than what is
> provided for in the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution provides a
> floor, not a ceiling, for the preservation of individual rights," Herrera
> added.
>
> Montana now joins legislators in eight states (AK, GA, KS, LA, MO, MS, 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.
>
> The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation's largest
> nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators.
>
>
> SOURCE American Legislative Exchange Council
>
> Jorge Amselle of the American Legislative Exchange Council,
> +1-202-742-8536,
> jamselle@alec.org
>
>
> Representative Cary Smith
> House District 55
>
