Senate Approves Scarnati’s 'Individual
Health Care Freedom' Amendment
US Supreme Court Ends Health Care Act Debate
The state Senate today approved a measure by President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati that would amend the state Constitution to prohibit Pennsylvanians from being required to obtain health insurance coverage or from being penalized for not doing so.
Scarnati said Senate Bill 10 would give voters an opportunity to say “yes” or “no” to a key part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. That law contains a controversial “individual mandate” provision forcing Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014 or face escalating financial penalties as high as 2.5 percent of their total household income.
A recent USA Today/Gallup Poll found that 75 percent of voters, including a majority of democrats and liberals, believe the law is unconstitutional.
Scarnati said while his bill was introduced in response to “Obamacare,” its main purpose is to address the issue of federal government overreach and intrusion on state rights and individual liberty.
“This issue is of such vital importance to our free society that the legislature must ensure Pennsylvania citizens have the opportunity to make their voices heard,” Scarnati said. “If the federal government can force a citizen to purchase health insurance, then are there any limits to what the federal government can compel a person to do?”
Legislators in more than 20 states have sponsored similar proposals, while voters already have passed such amendments in Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma. Four more will have a similar question on November ballots, he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments on challenges to the health care law and will rule on the federal statute's constitutionality. Pennsylvania is among 26 states that have sued, saying Congress overstepped its authority.
“While obtaining reasonably priced health care insurance should be an affordable option for all Pennsylvanians, it should remain each individual’s personal choice whether to do so,” concluded Scarnati.
Because it is a constitutional amendment, Senate Bill 10 must be approved in two consecutive legislative sessions and then receive a majority vote in a statewide referendum.
But the whole issue may be moot by June.
The Supreme Court today concluded a marathon debate on health care with justices signaling an ideological divide that could topple some or all of the sweeping reform law signed by President Barack Obama.
CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said he found the questioning by justices signaled they are ready to invalidate the individual mandate, a step he said could put the entire law in jeopardy.
At issue on the third day of debate was whether all the law's 450 or so provisions would have to be scrapped if the individual mandate were found unconstitutional. The mandate is the key funding mechanism of the law.
The Court is expected to make its decision by June.
The news leader of the Twin Tiers ...
since 1947
The state Senate today approved a measure by President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati that would amend the state Constitution to prohibit Pennsylvanians from being required to obtain health insurance coverage or from being penalized for not doing so.
Scarnati said Senate Bill 10 would give voters an opportunity to say “yes” or “no” to a key part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. That law contains a controversial “individual mandate” provision forcing Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014 or face escalating financial penalties as high as 2.5 percent of their total household income.
A recent USA Today/Gallup Poll found that 75 percent of voters, including a majority of democrats and liberals, believe the law is unconstitutional.
Scarnati said while his bill was introduced in response to “Obamacare,” its main purpose is to address the issue of federal government overreach and intrusion on state rights and individual liberty.
“This issue is of such vital importance to our free society that the legislature must ensure Pennsylvania citizens have the opportunity to make their voices heard,” Scarnati said. “If the federal government can force a citizen to purchase health insurance, then are there any limits to what the federal government can compel a person to do?”
Legislators in more than 20 states have sponsored similar proposals, while voters already have passed such amendments in Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma. Four more will have a similar question on November ballots, he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments on challenges to the health care law and will rule on the federal statute's constitutionality. Pennsylvania is among 26 states that have sued, saying Congress overstepped its authority.
“While obtaining reasonably priced health care insurance should be an affordable option for all Pennsylvanians, it should remain each individual’s personal choice whether to do so,” concluded Scarnati.
Because it is a constitutional amendment, Senate Bill 10 must be approved in two consecutive legislative sessions and then receive a majority vote in a statewide referendum.
But the whole issue may be moot by June.
The Supreme Court today concluded a marathon debate on health care with justices signaling an ideological divide that could topple some or all of the sweeping reform law signed by President Barack Obama.
CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said he found the questioning by justices signaled they are ready to invalidate the individual mandate, a step he said could put the entire law in jeopardy.
At issue on the third day of debate was whether all the law's 450 or so provisions would have to be scrapped if the individual mandate were found unconstitutional. The mandate is the key funding mechanism of the law.
The Court is expected to make its decision by June.
The news leader of the Twin Tiers ...since 1947
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Comments
The proposed amendment is just nonsense theater. Scarnati should know better; but maybe he's just enjoying being a demagogue.