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Obamacare can still be stopped.
And no, it’s not going to be stopped by Pelosi and Boehner – or Roberts and Scalia. It’s going to be stopped by people like you – pressing your state to resist. In fact, Obamacare’s ability to become reality in the long term is like a house of cards. The act is not viable economically and unstable politically. The only way it can gain a foothold at this point is through compliance in the states. Resistance will kill it.
In fact, there are 4 ways that you can resist Obamacare on a state level. Here’s a quick overview of each:
1. Reject the Exchanges. States were “given an option” – run the exchange, partner with the feds on running it, or leave it to DC to figure out. It doesn’t matter what “cards we were dealt” – as some governors are saying. Running an unconstitutional program for the feds is just plain wrong. And the first – and easiest – thing for states to do is to just say no.
Shifting the burden for health insurance exchanges to the feds effectively sabotages the implementation of Obamacare.
The federal government needs states to be complicit to pull this off. Otherwise, these decisions on who was creating exchange wouldn’t even have been included in the first place. The fact of the matter is that DC doesn’t have the resources or the manpower to run these exchanges in every state. Some analysts are saying that they only have the capacity to do so in 30 states, and any more than that will lead towards a collapse of the system.
Right now? Contact your governor and urge him or her to reject the creation of an exchange. Or, get your state representative to introduce a bill banning it. You can even use this bill in states where Governors have made the wrong choice. Make a state exchange illegal with a veto-proof majority and you’ve just made your DC-loving governor irrelevant. You can find model legislation online at tenthamendmentcenter.com/banexchanges
Also, share this short video on the issue from the Goldwater Institute:
2. Reject the Medicaid Expansion. During the Obamacare case before the Supreme Court, Rob Natelson and his colleagues at the Independence Institute argued that the law’s provisions forcing the states to expand Medicaid were unconstitutional. Neither the Constitution nor case law, they pointed out, permits the federal government to use federal spending programs to coerce the states. Seven of the nine justices agreed with them, essentially adopting the arguments advanced in their brief.
As a result, the states may consider freely whether or not to accept additional federal funds for the Medicaid expansion. Accepting federal funds might seem to bring the states short-term fiscal benefits. But the fiscal risks of doing so are very great—perhaps eventual bankruptcy. Financial and practical matters aside, helping the federal government run an unconstitutional program by participating in it on a state level is just plain wrong.
Get model legislation for your state HERE.
3. Pass a Health Freedom Act or Amendment. Already passed in more than a dozen states – three of which were in November, well-after the Supreme Court ruled on the Constitutionality of Obamacare, the Health Freedom Act is a powerful step towards the nullification of Obamacare. It is introduced as either standard legislation or as a proposal to your state’s constitution, often requiring a vote of the people.
It often includes language such as this: “An act banning the imposition of any penalty, tax, fee or fine on those who do not purchase health insurance.”
According to Michael Cannon of the CATO Institute, in order to operate an exchange, state employees would have to determine eligibility for ObamaCare’s “premium assistance tax credits.” Those tax credits trigger penalties against employers (under the employer mandate) and residents (under the individual mandate). In addition, state employees would have to determine whether employers’ health benefits are “affordable.” A negative determination results in fines against the employer. These are key functions of an exchange.
Thus, if the state establishes an exchange, then that law would violate state law by indirectly compelling employers and individual residents to participate in a health care system. That sort of law is precisely what the Health Care Freedom Act exists to prevent.
But it’s not just exchanges. This would prevents the adoption of any health care policies that are inconsistent with the Health Care Freedom Act. Under Obamacare, that will likely be many. Get more information at tenthamendmentcenter.com/obamacare/
Get the New Documentary Today!
4. Pass a Federal Health Care Nullification Act. If you like the idea of being on the side of the Constitution, then this step is for you. It’s the toughest to get through for sure, but it doesn’t hurt to try to get this introduced and debated while working on any of the previous three steps, the low-hanging fruit. This Act, model legislation from the Tenth Amendment Center, takes the constitutional view that the federal government doesn’t have the delegated authority to run a health care system as proposed in the Affordable Care Act.
This bill not only declares the entire federal act to be null and void within your state, but provides for actions to prevent its enforcement in the future. Get it online at tenthamendmentcenter.com/obamacare
THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW
In many states, even the simplest – rejecting the exchange – is an extremely difficult proposition. And in others, you can move right to step four. While each one of these steps alone won’t result in a nullification of the act, they’re all an important piece of the puzzle. An act of resistance in one state leads to courage and doing the same in another. At the same time, some courageous types might get the notion that they can turn it up a notch and take a stronger stand in their state than you have in yours
Action leads to action. And, as our motto says, Concordia res parvae crescunt. This is a Latin phrase taken from a letter written by John Dickinson, who was known as “the penman of the Revolution.” It means small things grow great by concord.
Either way, if you do nothing, you know what will happen. So, get going now, and stand up for your rights!
ACTION ITEMS:
1. Model Legislation for all 4 steps available here:
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/obamacare
2. Contact your state reps and senators and urge them to introduce one or more steps to your state legislature
3. Volunteer to help the movement grow:
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/volunteer
In my opinion, the nullification models are open to attack because they do not define and make the separation of power between the States and their federal government the hammer. The use of the word “delegated,” without more, negates nullification because the taxing power, which was used as the basis for the constitutionality of the bill, is a delegated power. It also negates the Tenth Amendment because the Amendment ONLY applies to powers not delegated. If heath care does not fall of the federal side of the separation, and it doesn’t, then the federal government cannot invoke a delegated power as the basis for the law.
@Bob Greenslade Nullification models are ALWAYS open to attack. I wouldn’t expect it on these grounds, though. But we’ll certainly keep this in mind as things progress Bob. thanks for the feedback!
@Bob Greenslade Also, any other recommendations or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to share. We welcome and need the input!
We live in WA State which is CA North. Contacting our 2 Socialist Senators and our Democrat in Republican clothing would be the joke of the year to these 3 Phonies. I fear we are screwed.
@navyguy you r screwed
I welcome it.
you completely missunderstand the bill the more states rejected the more federal control it has
@kerryfox would you say the same if the feds banned firearms and mandated enforcement on the states? ”Oh, well, these are the cards we were dealt. And if the state doesn’t do it, the federal government will – and the feds will have more control”
that’s a horrible argument. on firearms or on the ACA.
@kerryfox I understand your thinking, but in this case it is not so.
The states take money from the feds to enforce federal mandates of Obama Care ( to act as their policemen). The moment the feds don’t like the way the states are doing their job, they yank the chain and the states jump in line. State control is an illusion when they are enforcing federal law.
If you are going to oppress me – please don’t ask me to help !!!!!!
I love state soughvernty , but in this case there is none, there is only capitulation.
Repeal of prescription laws as libertarians have been advocating would be a good first step that would reduce the need for “government health care” of the sort that Obamacare now proposes to do.
My husband and I will lose his employer-sponsored health care on 6/30/13. This has nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act. It is because he receives private long-term disability from his former employer along with the ability to keep health insurance for one year after he lost his job.
We both have many pre-existing conditions that we would highly unlikely to get private health insurance at any cost and are in our late 50′s. I need to return to work (which I planned to do anyway) because we need the income and also health insurance. Our only “out” is that if we can obtain individual private health insurance we won’t have a waiting period of one year for our pre-existing conditions if we obtain the health insurance within 63 days of losing our current coverage. Even though I have a college degree I’d scrub toilets at our city university medical center, another hospital, a major employer, or the state, city, or county government for the health, dental, and vision benefits.
For those of you who oppose the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a “Obama Care), would you still feel as you do if you were in our position? Or maybe you have been and it doesn’t matter to you. If I could only bring in 30K into our household with decent benefits, we’d feel like we were in hog heaven. I’d gladly put in $200/month or so to help subsidize the cost of the health care exchanges, because I believe if we were so blessed if would be our obligation to do so.
Health care exchanges may be our only hope to obtain health insurance at an affordable cost. Contrary to what you suggest, I’m going to write our governor and let him know how disgusted I am about his refusing to set up a health care exchange in our state.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the essential parts of the Affordable Care Act are constitutional and that’s good enough for me. If they had struck it down, I’d have to live with that decision.
I have read that although Americans are ambivalent about the Affordable Care Act, they realize that our health care system is broken and needs to be fixed. I’d like to see changes in the Affordable Care Act, but I say, “mend it, not end it.” For example, why isn’t there a provision in the Act to train more nurse practitioners and physician assistants? They can do much of what primary care physicians do and we’ll need them because of the expected shortage of primary care physicians because of the pent-up demand for health care that people will finally obtain. Yes, there are financial issues to be addressed. But there are many wealthy in this country that do not pay what many would consider a fair share of taxes because our tax system is not progressive. Perhaps they should be taxed a little more to make this system. Heck, I’d gladly accept a slightly higher tax rate to pay for the Affordable Care Act.
I’ve said way too much already. Just wanted you to know that not everyone who supports the Affordable Care Act is not some sort of socialist or something. My husband and I have lived in two Great Lakes states all our lives and graduated from a Big Ten university. We aren’t deadbeats. We paid off our student loans. I attend church almost every Sunday and am involved in ministry there (not a liberal mainline church BTW). I believe in being in my brother’s and sister’s keepers, and don’t think that there are enough private charities out there that could provide needed health care (especially preventive care) for those who need it.
@BdgrGrl76
Most insurers off “COBRA” plans after a job loss; you said you were returning to work anyway. COBRAS, depending on your income, are not unreasonable. Private insurance at $200 a month (as you quoted) is still reasonable compared to what I will have to pay in higher taxes and my husband to support this Act. Most people do not understand this portion.
This Act increases your “actual” tax, out of pocket money; by $2,200/year if your family makes a mere $34,000. This is not PER FAMILY, this is per provider. Husband and wife. Then add on the taxes from Obamas ridiculous policies and the tax cuts lapsing, tack on another $1600.
I assume you think it is fair for a family with four children to haul this tax load, when you could have been saving money over the last 30 years. In our state, we even have to pay rental fees on books for our children, yet even we can only put $5 that month; we do. Why does the government, our family, or anyone else have to provide your care and the rest of the country. We already do that with Medicaid, CHIP programs, there are privately funded charities.
People need to look beyond the glitz and glam of free, and see who is really being hurt by funding this. The government works on tax money, the tax payer (you know, the people who work), are funding this.i should not be forced to fund a program I do not agree with. If you believe something is immoral, someone demanded you pay for it; are you going to do it? I would hope not, so why should I. A woman wants her husband killed, the killer wants $10,000; she demands you pay for it. Do you do it. Not any different.
@bethk1973
, but I want to say something gutting prescription laws and licensing medical providers. My goodness, do you really want to go to a pharmacy at a place like Wal-Mart where the almighty dollar would rank much than patient health and safety? Some of the doctors and medical providers who advertise locally, like a chiropractor who thinks he has the way to cure diabetes, obesity, poor eyesight, menstrual difficulties….. are already off the deep end. I couldn’t imagine visiting a physician, nurse practitioner, hospital, dentist, etc., and have to rely on customer satisfaction surveys to determine that they really learned to practice their profession in some other way than finding “how-to” websites on the Internet. Heck, I wouldn’t even do that for our cat, or even strays that wander into our backyard occasionally.
Hi bethk1973,
I appreciate your response. If I said that we could find private health insurance for $200/month, I made a huge mistake. The best I could find was a plan with a $1250 deductible for each of, a (thankfully) $250 generic prescription drug deductible, and an 80/20 limit on other costs up to either $7500 or $10,000 for each of us. Because of the Affordable Care Act it does cover some preventive services like wellness visits, mammograms, etc. That would cost a little over $600/month. Basically, enough to keep us from bankruptcy but that’s about it.
And COBRA in our current situation will cost us 101% of the cost of what my husband’s (former) employer pays for health insurance per family or single policy. For us, that will be at least $1200/month! And that is the cost whether you made $20,000/year or over $120,000 year. I have checked.
WRT to you or anyone else providing care for us or anyone else, not too many years past we were scraping the rung of the upper-middle class. We never complained about our taxes being too high (except for local property taxes). We felt very blessed that we had worked ourselves from the working class (me) and lower middle class (husband) to finishing college and getting excellent jobs. If your family were in our shoes, I’d count it as a privilege to be able to pay taxes to help you out — seriously. I’m also thankful for thinks like the SSI that my husband’s adult cousin with Down syndrome and my nephew with health conditions (not substance abuse, BTW) that have made it impossible to either of them perform gainful attainment.
Could you please tell me where you got your information about the additional taxes and expenses related to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act? Was it from a very politically conservative source or another source that has no dog in this hunt? And what are “Obama’s ridiculous policies”? Would you be a bit more specific, please?
I do find many things our federal government spends money on very unwise and wasteful and close to being immoral. What about continuing to spend money on a war in Afghanistan that we can never win? What about the way the way the crop support system has become even more rigged to help agribusiness? What about all this corporate welfare when corporate profits continue to rise?
And on a much smaller scale, I’m all for people receiving the Social Security benefits they’re entitled to. But my sister-in-law’s mother-in-law received a larger Social Security check after her husband died based on his work record instead of his. She wasn’t rich, but had no money worries. She tried repeatedly to ask Social Security to get her benefit check to be what it was before she lost her husband and was always told it couldn’t be done. They still wouldn’t do it after she showed up at one of her U.S. Senator’s local office and asked them to intervene. Losing her patience, she asked them what to do. They said she could donate the difference between the 2 checks to the fund to reduce the national debt. Instead, she increased the pledge to her church to cover the difference between the two checks. I wouldn’t call that policy immoral; I’d call it — stupid.
Just to be a curmudgeon, if my husband dies before I do, and I actually have money left over when I leave for my heavenly home, I should will a few thousand to the fund to pay off the national debt (only half kidding).
It’s past my bedtime
@BdgrGrl76 @bethk1973
@BdgrGrl76 @bethk1973
The question really comes down to one of whether or not people should be denied medicine because they can’t afford to “bribe” a doctor for his or her “permission” to purchase medicine. Libertarians such as myself believe that personal freedom is the better choice than being denied the choice to take care of yourself because you can’t afford the cost of doing so because government has established a monopoly. A very profitable monopoly for an organized group who has the power to deny medicine to anyone who is not willing to pay for the “permission” to be allowed to purchase medicine. The medicines sold by Walmart are just as safe as the medicine sold by any other drug store.
@JeromeBigge @bethk1973
Maybe I didn’t understand you before, but would the medications available if prescription laws were abolished still be regulated by the FDA? People already demand antibiotics when they don’t need them and raise antibiotic resistance for all of this. I shudder when even more folks buy antibiotics willy-nilly when they have viral infections and don’t see a physician or nurse practitioner to stop prescribing antibiotics for them when they aren’t necessary. What about dangerous drug interactions? And this list could go on and on…
Also, without professional licensing laws could patients sue for medical, nursing, dental, etc. malpractice? If it were my family or friends would I really want them treated by someone without knowing whether the health professional is a quack? What about Joint Commission Accreditation for hospitals? Sheesh, about 100,000 people die in hospitals already because of medical errors. Do you want to make it worse?
Can you imagine the bribes paid to the media to keep the problems with St. X’s hospital, or the people damaged by Dr.. Knife’s surgery, etc. under the radar?
Be a Libertarian if you want to, but carve out your own state, maybe out of thinly populated parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, or South Dakota (not that I have anything against these states). If your ideas work, people would flood to your state and you would have ideas the rest of us could try.
@BdgrGrl76 @bethk1973
Trusting the government to keep you safe doesn’t seem to work that well. We have the example of the New England Compounding Pharmacy which was careless in how they handled the drugs. As for the FDA, they’ve allowed drugs with bad side effects to be marketed. The diabetes drug Avandia (not sure of the spelling) which caused heart attacks was allowed to stay on the market despite the fact that the Europeans pulled it off their formulary. There is a drug for arthritis that creates bad side effects and is still available. Problem is that “money talks” and the drug companies have a lot of lobbyists that can influence votes in Congress.
Government licensing of doctors doesn’t protect you from bad doctors. Regular certification tests might be a better choice. We could also have various levels of providers with certification as to what they are qualified to do. The medical profession also (like the police) has a strong tendency to close ranks and conceal examples of malpractice. So it doesn’t appear that government involvement has much effect. I can also say from personal experience that very few doctors will question what another doctor does. Again, the profession tends to “close ranks” against those outside the profession. Nor are they all that careful about diagnosis or even checking on the side effects of the drugs that they prescribe. Again, I have personal experience of this.
The medical profession has a lot of political power here in the USA. This is also why we end up paying 50% more for health care than those fortunate enough to live in countries with national health insurance where there is control over excessive charges. Who as a rule tend to have longer life expectancy than do Americans. Ask why it is that the Japanese have life expectancy greater than people living anywhere else, but only half of what Americans do for health care? Plus more Japanese per capita smoke cigarettes than we do!
About 80% of all antibiotics are used in the animal husbandry in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations where large numbers are crowded together and locked in stalls most of their lives. The antibiotics tend to make the animal gain weight quicker and also serve to prevent diseases from overcrowded. Then the animals are given hormones to make them gain weight. Among these are growth hormones and such which leach out from the “animal waste” and leak into streams and the water table. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been fighting this for years, but the CAFO’s are located in rural counties that vote Republican, so nothing happens. Of course with a Republican governor it isn’t likely anything will be done either.
Libertarians believe in free choice for everyone. Those who want to rely upon “government” for their protection will be able to continue to do so. However it doesn’t appear that government does that great a job of “protection” when you get down to it.
@bethk1973 @BdgrGrl76 really REALLY enjoyed your input.
@BdgrGrl76 I am sorry for your situation and we are our brothers keeper – that is a voluntary and spiritual act.
To forceably take from one person and give to another is not charity but theft and it empowers the one who takes it.
Please don’t buy the lie that the Government can create a paradise on earth – their promises never pan out and we are left slaves.
Please don’t force this system on others – I don’t want any part of it.
I have worked as a broker for over 20 years and a real problem I do see is responsible people who are coming off group coverage and have pre existing conditions. I think an open enrolement period to transition to an individual coverage would be a good fix.
You can take cobra from your prior job for 18 months (this is the true cost of the coverage) -in Missouri we have had a high risk pool for years, for individuals who can not get coverage – it is quiet expensive but guaranteed issue. I don’t know if Michigan has anything similar.
Biggest problem overall? Cost is out of sight – Medical costs are very high and therefor the insurance to cover medical is also very high. Free market competition and consumers having the information they need to shop is the only way to lower cost without rationing care, stifeling innovation, and lowering quality.
I understand your frustration but please look at other solutions that keep us free. I have studied this monsterous act and seen it’s effects already. Socialism is not the solution.
James Coyne – Columbia Mo.
Basic problem is that US health care is at least 50% higher in cost than health care anywhere else. Do we enjoy longer life spans because our health care costs half again as much as what health care costs anywhere else? There is no data supporting this. As a matter of fact, the US ranks close to the bottom. Nor does the “Patient Protection, Affordable Care Act” do anything to correct this problem. At the very best, all that is being done is to offer people some financial “aid” so that they can purchase private health insurance from our quite profitable private health insurance industry. And “where” does the money come from to pay for all this? The government can either tax people to obtain the money, or run up the deficit higher than it already is. No one is willing to tell the health care industry that the real problem is a monopoly system where there is next to no control over prices and anyone can charge whatever they feel like charging because they are operating under a government enforced monopoly system that “protects” them from “competition”.
Solution is simply to eliminate all laws and regulations that make health care the monopoly that it is. Without prescription laws your only cost would be the price of the drugs at Walmart. Without professional licensing there would be various levels of providers providing services according to their ability. We’d have much lower cost hospitals for those who don’t need 2012 technology for their medical problems. We would also be free to use medical providers in other countries via the Internet. Our health care costs would fall by perhaps as much as a trillion dollars a year. Currently that is the difference between US health care costs and that of the rest of the developed world. Of course this will be make today’s health care providers rather “unhappy” since they’ve gotten used to a lifestyle much higher than what most Americans enjoy. But most of the rest of us have had to accept that our incomes won’t be as high as we’d like, and without prescription laws, the providers will quickly learn that most people don’t need to see doctors anywhere nearly as often as the profession would like. Probably at least half of all doctor visits are only done because the doctor holds the power of access to medicine as a weapon over the rest of us. This needs to come to an end…
@JeromeBigge
Hi jerome,
The government has effectively destroyed the health insurance (which was a competitive low cost option to protect your assets in the event of a medical emergency or illness). Both state and federal agencies have destroyed the ability for insurance companies to compete by requiring coverage regardless of the consumers/businesses want or ability to pay. Then the feds and state regulators went after the health care industry which you have outlined correctly. Obamacare doesn’t fix or give choice to Americans and it’s the first time the government has forced citizens to participate in a program regardless of choice. It’s the basic first step to communism, socialism and facism. No longer will America be able to be at the forfront of medical research and development. It’s a sad state of affairs and many Americans were either duped to too stupid to understand the implications of Obamacare. Pelosi and her “pass it and then we will read it” approach is as good as Biden’s remarks about gun control. Stupidity in a nice suit.
Great info – Missouri has done all but step 4 and nullification passed the house and made it to the senate floor last year !
please stop obama care he is going to break our nation
TO BdgrGrl76, Its people like you who voted for Obama. You dont know or understand the issues. This is clear by everything you have said. Nothing is free, (unless you in the 133% of poverty level). Eliminating per-x clauses and limitations on plans is going to cause premiums to be out of reach for the middle class. You can find this information anywhere. Anyone with common sense would know this, I spoke with the Executive Director of DOBI today (the dept of banking and insurance) she confirmed that after 2013 there will no longer be Basic and Essential (affordable plans) available to us under Obamacare. Also she confirmed that the plans in the exchange will be so rich that they will be unattainable to the middle class. The only thing offered is a tax credit, which they will not give us any information on until you apply for healthcare only through the exchange in Oct 2013. That “tax credit” will be given directly to your insurance company to decrease your monthly premium. (that is if you are eligible for one at all) It is for people between 100 and 400% of poverty level. The lower on the pole you are, the government will pay your entire premium. So not only is the Poverty lever going to be increased to 138% level, and we the tax payers will pay for more Medicaid recipients, we will also pay for people up to the 400% for the subsidy they receive, in the mean time, I cannot afford insurance, will have to pay out of pocket for medical care, which none of us can afford, and then be penalized at the end of the year 24% of your income PER PERSON for not having a plan through the exchange. This means for most of us, never getting an income tax return again. Besided being in debt for the medical bills you couldnt afford to pay. Most middle class will not be getting a credit unless you exceed a high percentage of you income for out of pocket premiums. Oh and you have to estimate what you expect to earn the upcoming year (2014) for them to decide if and how much your credit will be, IF you underestimated, you will pay them back at the end of the year. Estimates of ins. premiums will go up thousands of dollars per year. I personally cannot afford a regular plan now, I certainly will not be able to afford in 2014. Also if you are a smoker, your premium will be increased by another 50%! Obama is a smoker, but I guess you already know that those in government are not subject to Obamacare laws. 1 more thing, once you buy from the exchange, Your Private Health Info will be centralized in a federal database which goes against all PHI and HIPPA laws. But it ok with you? They need this info to start making decisions on which treatments you can and cant have….whether you live or die. Read more and understand the issues before you vote. You are the stupid people who thing Oh its free, “affordable care act” they fooled you too! Just give it a good name and you:ll drink the Kool Aid. Good job, you can say you voted for the president that bankrupted us all and started communism in the USA.
please stop obama care he is going to break our nation Yes he is and If I need to sign my name to get this done I will ets top him now he is going to finish us off the clift is near . HELP