Montana could join health care compact as Obamacare alternative

By   /   February 25, 2011  /   1 Comment

By MICHAEL NOYES

HELENA – The state House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would authorize a health care compact seen as an alternative to Obamacare in that it would take health care out of the hands of the federal government and give it to the states.

House Bill 526, sponsored by Rep. Champ Edmunds, R-Missoula, pictured at left, now heads to the Senate for action after a 62-36 vote in the House.

An official with the Health Care Compact Alliance said the action is an important step.

“The Health Care Compact gives the health care decision-making power back to the people instead of the bureaucrats in Washington. It allows greater citizen influence, more competition, and more options for health care for millions of Americans,” Eric O’Keefe, chairman of the Health Care Compact Alliance, said in a media release on Thursday. “This important legislation will provide the citizens of Montana with greater control over their government and, ultimately, over their health care.”

A spokesman for the Democratic Party in Montana referred a request for comment to Jackie Boyle, a policy adviser for the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance.

Boyle said she doesn’t disagree with the concept of introducing more competition into the market, but said she thinks the national exchange outlined in the recently passed national health care legislation is the way to accomplish that.

“We’re really focusing all of our efforts on the health insurance exchange,” Boyle said. “That’s going to do exactly what (they) are trying to do on this interstate compact. It’s going to make it where consumers can shop for policies and compare policies.”

Edmunds could not be reached for immediate comment.

It does not need the signature of the president to take effect. The way health care works in a member state is not prescribed in the compact. Who and what is covered as well as the level of regulation are determined by each state after the compact is ratified.

The Health Care Compact is an initiative of the Health Care Compact Alliance, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to providing Americans more influence over decisions that govern their health care.

In January, political columnist Fred Barnes reported in “The Weekly Standard” that many states are using the Health Care Compact as an alternative to President Baraack Obama’s health-care package commonly known as “Obamacare.”

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  • johnwk

    I guess not too many people realize the significance of the Health Care Compact proposal. What it would do if adopted by a State is give the federal government authority to enter the state and impose its will over the subject matter. Example: New York and New Jersey had to get Congress’s approval to create the New York State Port of Authority. And guess what? Since they had to get Congress’s approval which in turn gave Congress jurisdiction over the enterprise, a later Court decision upheld Congress taxing the salaries of its employees! See: Helvering v. Gerhardt 304 US 405 (1938)

    This is another clever trick to not only create a 501 ( c ) (4) tax exempt gang to collect contributions and live large, but also to get the people within the States to hang themselves by giving the federal government jurisdiction over their health care needs by getting permission from Congress to set up their “Compact”.

    Funny thing is, I heard one of our “conservative” talk show hosts telling his listening audience how great the idea is and they should join the Health Care Compact Alliance.

    What I can’t understand is why a syndicated “conservative” radio talk show host is promoting the Health Care Compact Alliance. Something is wrong! I’ve also noticed that not one “conservative” radio talk show host will talk about our Constitution’s original tax plan, nor the fact that our founders specifically forbid notes of any kind, which includes Federal Reserve Notes, to be made a legal tender which ultimately forces people to accept worthless script in payment of debt. In other words, they seem to intentionally avoid talking about the honest money and honest taxing system our founders gave us which are the tools now used to steal what America’s businesses and labor have produced.

    Who among the following list has ever taken the time to discuss our founding fathers expressed intentions regarding these two issues? Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, Schnitt, Mark Levin, Dennis Prager, Sean Hannity, Bill O’rielly, Mike Gallagher, Lee Rodgers, Neal Boortz. Tammy Bruce, Monica Crowley, Herman Cain …. WHO?

    JWK

    Health care by consent of the governed (Article 5) our amendment process — tyranny by a PROGRESSIVE majority vote in Congress!