Colorado Right to Health Care Choice Initiative

January 19th, 2010 | by Brian Schwartz |

On January 15 Jon Caldara submitted the Colorado Right to Health Care Choice Initiative to the legislative council “to exempt Colorado from the mandates of Obama Care.” Read the full text.  Several media outlets mention this (click on link for full article):

The Denver Post:

Independence Institute president Jon Caldara on Friday filed a ballot proposal that would allow the state to reject mandates imposed by a health care bill being debated in Washington.

“I think it’s time for Colorado to stand up and defend itself against ‘Obama Care,’ ” Caldara said. “It’s our goal to make Colorado a sanctuary state for good health care.” …

…If the language of the ballot initiative is approved by the council and Colorado’s Secretary of State office, Caldara will need to gather signatures from at least 75,000 registered voters in Colorado. But because he expects the proposal will face opposition, Caldara said he’ll need to gather at least 100,000 signatures.

Caldara expects petitions will begin circulating in the next three months.

He said he hopes the initiative won’t make it to the November ballot if Democratic congressional health-reform efforts are thwarted or if state lawmakers pass legislation exempting Colorado from the federal mandates.

If the ballot initiative is ultimately approved by voters, Caldara said he expects a legal challenge regarding the constitutionality of the amendment. Under the U.S. Constitution’s “Supremacy Clause,” federal law is superior to state law. …

Grand Junction Sentinel: (Thank you for accurately referring to the II as a “free-market” think tank rather than “conservative.”)

The head of a free-market think tank wants Colorado to opt out of whatever health care measure Congress ends up approving. …

…[Jon Caldara] said mandating all Americans to have health care insurance is a violation of states’ rights.

“The citizens can decide to speak up and say no to Obama care,” Caldara said. “Colorado is defending itself from an unfunded mandate from Washington, D.C.”

Michael Huttner, executive director of the Democratic-leaning advocacy group Progress Now, said Caldara’s measure will go nowhere.

“This is nothing more than the right wing and their corporate interests trying to take shots at the Obama administration,” Huttner said. “It’s a sham. The people of Colorado are smarter than this. When they learn who’s behind it … they will learn that this is a complete farce.”

Corporate interests?  The bill forces insurance companies to buy their products (see this article by John Stossel) and big pharma supports the pro-Obama Care candidate for the Massachusetts Senate?

KRDO, Channel 13

KDVR, Fox 31:

… Colorado is one of more than a dozen states considering such ballot initiatives. Caldara says he will launch a petition drive in January which would seek to put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot next November.

Caldara says the amendment would do three things. It would reverse any federal mandate requiring Coloradans to purchase health insurance. He says it would also preserve the private health insurance market, and it would allow Coloradans to shop across state lines for the best insurance deal.

Caldara would need more than 76,000 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. …

Caldara says it’s a matter of states versus federal rights.

“That’s really the issue of ‘ObamaCare.’ Does Washington have the right to trump your health care decisions here in Colorado? And are we able to make our own health care policies and decisions through the laws we have in this state?,” says Caldera.

Colorado Springs Gazette:

… Caldara understands the dangers of a system that doesn’t give citizens choices in paying for health care, because he has met and interviewed Canadians who travel to the United States to save their lives. The Canadian government has long forbidden most health care providers from accepting out-of-pocket payment for services, trying to prevent a two-tiered system in which the wealthy jump to the front of waiting lines. As a result, people willing to pay for immediate life-saving care typically travel to the United States. …

…If Colorado voters pass a law in 2010, upholding rights of individuals, the courts will likely examine precedence pertaining to freedom of association, in which federal courts have determined that individuals get to decide which organizations to join and who they will and will not interact with and contract with. …

… Caldara’s agenda promotes freedom of association by protecting the rights of individuals to associate with the health insurers and providers of their choosing. It also defends the individual’s right to associate with no health care organizations at all. We have no freedom of association if we have no freedom from association.

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