ST. PAUL, Minn. (Jan. 13, 2017) – A bill introduced in the Minnesota House would end the state run health insurance exchange and leave the federal government to setting up its own program. This would take an important first step toward withdrawing the state from implementing Obamacare.
A coalition of 3 representatives introduced House Bill 10 (HF10) on Jan. 5. The legislation would end Minnesota’s state-run Obamacare insurance exchange known as MNsure. The federally facilitated marketplace would replace the state exchange.
At this point it remains unclear whether Congress will actually send President-elect Trump a bill to repeal Obamacare. If so, will it be a complete or just a partial repeal? Regardless, state actions can help completely bring down the Affordable Care Act.
Obamacare was predicated on state cooperation. By ending state actions that support the ACA and refusing to enforce any of its mandates, a state can make it nearly impossible to run Obamacare within its borders. The federal government never intended to run the healthcare system alone, and ultimately, it can’t do it without state help. We’ve already seen the difficulties created for the Act by the number of states that simply refused to set up exchanges for the federal government.
Refusing to expand Medicaid or to set up an exchange are two essential steps states should take to facilitate an end to Obamacare. HF10 takes the very first step. That would set the stage for further action. Judge Andrew Napolitano noted that if a number of states were to refuse to participate with the ACA in a wholesale fashion, that multi-state action would “gut Obamacare.”
Napolitano said that if enough states follow suit, “it will gut ObamaCare because the federal government does not have the resources or the wherewithal […] to go into each of the individual states.”
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HF10 was referred to the Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee where it will need to pass by a majority vote before moving ahead in the legislative process.
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