A bill has been proposed in the Kansas Senate that would hinder the implementation of the Affordable Care Act within the state.
Following the lead of South Carolina, where lawmakers are fast-tracking HB3101 in 2014, and Georgia, where HB707 was introduced by Rep. Jason Spencer, Senate Bill 361 (SB361) was introduced on Feb. 10 to update the Health Care Freedom Act passed by Kansas voters in 2011. It passed that year with more than 90 percent support.
SB361 would ban health insurers operating in Kansas from “accept[ing] any remuneration, credit or subsidy… that may result in the imposition of a penalty against any employer or individual.” That means the state would punish any health insurance providers that complied with the onerous provisions of Obamacare.
If health insurance companies refuse to comply with SB361 and do the bidding of the federal government, their “authority to offer any insurance policy or to issue new business in the state through a health care exchange shall be suspended immediately and until such time as the health insurer represents to the commissioner of insurance that such health insurer has returned such remuneration, credit or subsidy to its source.”
Following part of the Tenth Amendment Center’s four-step plan to nullify Obamacare, Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano noted that such actions were not just legal, but effective.
“If enough states do this, it will gut Obamacare because the federal government doesn’t have the resources…to go into each of the states if they start refusing,” he said.
Based on the long-standing principle known as the anti-commandeering doctrine, the legislation is on strong legal grounds. In four major cases from 1842 to 2012, the Supreme Court has consistently held that the federal government cannot “commandeer” states, requiring them to enforce or expend resources to participate in federal law or regulatory programs.
Tenth Amendment Center national communications director Mike Maharrey highlighted the important role that the public plays in influencing elected officials to take action saying, “State lawmakers need to know they should introduce bills to ban the state from participating in any Obamacare programs.”
Now that it has been introduced in the State Senate, SB361 has been assigned to the Committee on Public Health and Welfare. It will have to pass that committee before the full Senate is given an opportunity to pass the bill on to the House for concurrence.
ACTION ITEMS
For Kansas: Take Steps to Support SB361 by clicking HERE.
For Other States: Contact your state legislators today – urge them to introduce similar legislation. Model bills and contact info HERE.
