Only Four House Members Oppose Health Care Exchange
As the U.S. Supreme Court is due to release its decision on the Patient and Protection and Affordable Care Act, Americans for Prosperity has asked House members to sign our “Health Care Freedom Pledge”.
The pledge asks members to “oppose any bill, regulation, or executive action that implements President Obama’s health care legislation, including bills that create new bureaucracies that must be funded by new surcharges, fees, or taxes of any kind.”
Unfortunately just 4 have signed the pledge. Rep. Ken Goike, Rep. Marty Knollenberg, Rep. Tom McMillin, and Rep. Greg MacMaster.
The Senate has already approved SB 693 which would create a state health care exchange as outlined by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Governor Snyder is on board and is pushing for an exchange to be created as well.
Touted as being “flexible” and under state control, the Exchanges created under the President’s new health care law are far from simple, innovative, or transparent. Instead, these Exchanges heap layers of onerous rules, restrictions, and mandates on states and insurers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published its most recent portion of the Exchange rules in March 2012, in a document totaling 644 pages. The word “require” appears 320 times; the word “must” appears over 1,000 times. This so-called “flexibility” is deceptive and egregious. Each regulation and restriction added by the federal government reduces the states’ “flexibility” and undermines the usefulness of the Exchanges.
Americans for Prosperity-Michigan opposes the health care exchanges as implemented through the President’s new health care law. We urge state lawmakers to pursue their own independent, patient-centered, market-based reforms.
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