Last night by a vote of 219-212 the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR3590, which was previously passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve.  They passed the bill without amendment so it now goes to President Obama’s desk.  He is expected to sign the bill on Tuesday.

The bill contains in individual mandate to purchase health insurance, but it also includes an exemption from the penalty for members of health care sharing ministries.  We are thankful for this island of freedom that remains in the legislation for pro-life Christians, and encourage people of faith to seek out information on these ministries and consider joining.

The individual and employer mandates do not take effect until 2014.

The Virginia house, with bipartisan support, passed Senate Bill 417 which legislatively pushes back against a federally instituted individual insurance mandate.  It is legally protecting the right of Virginia residents from being forced to purchase health insurance.

You can find the text of the bill, which Governor McDonnell is now expected to sign into law here, and more about national efforts to protect health care freedom through states acting under the 10^th amendment here.

We applaud these efforts because they will also protect our members’ right to use non-insurance options like health care sharing .  Americans need to have freedom of choice in their health care solutions, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach that will limit innovation and liberty.

Even before an array of national groups and taxpayers mounted a brave and seemingly unwinnable challenge to nationalized health insurance, an Arizona doctor began the fight to strengthen protection for health care freedom at the state level.  Three years later, his idea has spread like wildfire.

The Goldwater Institute has a great writeup on one doctor who started the health care freedom efforts that led to the Arizona ballot initiative and now the Virginia Senate passing the recent bill I mentioned last week.

Health care reform legislation at the federal level includes an individual mandate that would require all U.S. citizens to buy health insurance or face fines.

The Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act, which would release residents of a state from such a mandate, has already been filed or prefiled in 30 states. A question on whether to guarantee freedom of choice will be on Arizona’s ballot this fall, and lawmakers in five more states have announced their intentions to file the legislation. A citizen-led initiative has also been announced in Colorado.

It’s encouraging to see state legislatures pushing back against a one-size-fits-all approach to health reform. When a patient is freed up to choose providers, to choose the design of his own health care methods, at that point there is better health care and better cost.

We applaud the legislators standing up for freedom rather than a centrally controlled choice.

The states in which the Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act, promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Commission, has been introduced to release residents from an individual mandate are 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.

States in which legislators are considering introducing the act are Kansas, Montana, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Utah.