the arizona strategy
Wall Street Journal
Stephen Moore
Big news out of Arizona, and a big blow to Obamacare: On Monday the Arizona state senate referred to the ballot a state constitutional amendment called the Health Care Freedom Act. The amendment, if approved by voters, would guarantee the right of Arizonans to make their own health care decisions, and to be free from coercion (directly or indirectly) with respect to participating in any health care system or plan.
As Dr. Jeff Singer, a physician in Phoenix and one of the lead agitators for the amendment, notes: "This guarantees the people's right to make their own, private arrangements for health care services -- which may or may not include traditional insurance plans."
Republican Rep. Nancy Barto sponsored the measure in the House and Republican Sen. Carolyn Allen promoted it in the Senate. A similar plan was put on the ballot in 2008 and failed by just 0.5% of the vote after the health insurance lobby spent millions defeating it, fearing the loss of government contracts under then-Governor Janet Napolitano, a Democrat.
But this year, the environment is different thanks to the impending threat of Obamacare. Says GOP political consultant Bert Coleman, who led the political team to steer the bill through the legislature: "The amendment makes it illegal to pass an employer or individual mandate requiring the purchase of insurance." Groups on the left fought hard against the proposal and virtually every Democrat in the Arizona legislature voted against the bill, saying it would impede "health care options." What they mean by this, opines Mr. Coleman, "is that it impedes a single payer system."
The amendment will be voted on by Arizonans in November and supporters hope that other states will follow suit. Whether state initiatives can block a federal law is an open federalism question. But as Democrats try to define their health care plan as expanding "choice" and "competition," voters will want to ask why Democrats oppose a measure to guarantee a citizen's right to participate in the health care marketplace without coercion.
Dr. Singer has a good explanation: "The referral will get national attention and will be viewed as a real threat by those who would like to see a government takeover of the health care system -- with all of its attendant restrictions on freedom, choice, and autonomy -- and, of course, with rationing of health care to all. We anticipate a powerful and well-funded attack from them and other special interest groups as the next part of our campaign gets under way."
So the debate on health care freedom has now been taken to the states and Arizona is on the front lines. "This is really a question of who will control health care decisions: patients and their doctors, or government," says Eric Novack, another Phoenix area physician who is cited by many as the father of the ballot measure.
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