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.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 11:16 am and is filed under 2010 Reform Efforts, Government Solutions, Liberty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.