Health Care Exchanges PART 9 >>> Exchanges UnderCut Republican Congressional Goal to Unfund ObamaCare

“The Path to Prosperity – Restoring America’s Promise” is the fiscal year 2012 budget resolution published by the House Committe on the Budget Chairman Paul Ryan(R) of Wisconsin. 

Congressional Republicans are Fighting to Repeal and Defund ObamaCare

A key objective of Congressman Ryan’s resolution is to repeal and defund ObamaCare:

“PATIENT-CENTERED HEALTH CARE:  Repeals and defunds the President’s health care law…”  (p. 5)

What does the resolution have to do with health care exchanges?  EVERYTHING.  Congressman Ryan writes that his budget resolution is going to “make sure not a penny goes toward implementing the new law.” 

Not a Penny To Implement ObamaCare

  “Perhaps there is no question more hotly disputed in Washington than what to do about the rapidly rising cost of health care. There appear to be two contrasting approaches to solving this difficult problem:

 1.  Put the government in charge of ever-increasing swaths of the health care marketplace, and so let bureaucrats determine prices and dictate treatment options to doctors and patients; or  

2.  Give patients more control over the money this nation spends on health care, and so letcompetition in the marketplace control costs, improve quality, and expand access.

 

Option 1 raises two questions: Would this really control health care costs? And, if so, at what cost to the nation’s freedom? To answer the first question is to answer the second: If government alone could determine the price of all medical services by fiat; forbid doctors and hospitals to leave the system;  require all Americans to participate; and prevent patients from using too much of this “free” health care by imposing tight restrictions on every American’s access to treatment – then it is possible that health care costs would cease their relentless rise. However, as James Capretta, a budget and health care expert, testified before the House Budget Committee, the federal government has attempted countless times to regulate health care to control costs and invariably these proposals have failed and costs have continued to climb. 

Nevertheless, even if these efforts worked, the tradeoff in terms of lost freedom would be completely unacceptable. This approach would transform the relationship between citizen and state, leaving individuals helplessly dependent on their government. On a more practical level, it would substantially diminish quality of and access to care. There is no way for “experts” in Washington to know more about the health care needs of individual Americans than those individuals and their doctors know. 

The new health-care law, rammed through Congress last year on a partisan vote, has taken the nation one step closer to this fully government-run system. The problems with this approach are already popping up all over the country. Health care costs continue to escalate relentlessly. The new law has aggravated the worst aspects of the U.S. health care system, without fixing what was broken.

The country needs to move away from this centralized system, not towards it. This budget starts by repealing the costly new government-run health care law, saving roughly $725 billion over ten years by repealing the new exchange subsidies and making sure that not a penny goes toward implementing the new law. Then, this budget goes further with reforms that make government health-care programs more responsive to consumer choice.”

So, if our Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen are fighting to prevent even a single penny from going toward implementing the new law…. wouldn’t it make sense that Republican state-level lawmakers and governors would want to tangibly support the effort and choose not to undercut those fighting so hard in DC to get rid of this monster? 

Are Republican State Lawmakers Implementing ObamaCare via Exchanges Anyway? 

Yes.  As I write this post, exchanges are on the table in Colorado’s state legislature.  They will be voted on within days.  Check out Colorado SB 11-200 here.  This is a bill being co-sponsored by Colorado State House Representative Majority Leader Amy Stephens(R) and Colorado State Senator Betty Boyd(D).  The purpose of the bill is “creating a process for the implementation of a health benefit exchange in Colorado.” 

Why is a Colorado State Republican Lawmaker Co-Sponsoring a Bill that US Congressional Republicans Are Fighting?

That’s what I’d like to know.  If you say NO to Colorado health care exchanges, as both US Congressman Ryan and Congresswoman Bachmann clearly do, contact Representative Stephens today and ask her why she is co-sponsoring a bureaucratic health care exchange when Congressional leadership is clearly fighting against them.  Ask her why she is willing to undercut the efforts of Republicans who are standing up to President Obama and his unconstitutional health care law.  Ask her why she would accept federal funds for exchanges when US Congressional Republicans are aiming to defund them. 

Ask Representative Stephens to pull her name from sponsoring this bill and to vote against any exchanges for Colorado until ObamaCare is repealed or declared unconstitutional.  Once  repealed, it will be safe to broach exchanges again.  But for now and as long as ObamaCare’s destiny is uncertain, exchanges are poison to freedom.  Remind her that this is about freedom from massive federal intervention in our lives, and it starts right here in Colorado.    Here’s her contact information:

Office:
Rep Amy Stephens
Rm # 271
200 E Colfax
Denver, CO 80203

Phone: 303-866-2924
E-mail: Amy.Stephens@earthlink.net

Contact Every Colorado State Lawmaker and Ask them the Same Question 

Colorado’s State House of Representatives has a Republican majority by only one seat.  It’s that one seat that can block implementation of ObamaCare here.  Every Republican must vote NO to prevent passage of exchanges in Colorado.  If you don’t want Colorado’s GOP undercutting the brave efforts of our national Representatives, contact every Colorado Republican TODAY and urge them to vote NO on SB11-200.  Go to http://www.LifeLibertyFreedom.com and easily email every legislator at the State Capitol now. 

Do it now… SB11-200 is scheduled for a vote within days. 

Michelle Morin is Mom4Freedom, a conservative blogger, speaker, and patriot for freedom and America’s founding principles. Join her for valuable freedom updates here.