March 02, 2011 12:43 AM UTC

New "Tea Party" Health Care End Run Introduced

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: House Minority Leader Sal Pace fires back: “This is clearly just political posturing by a Republican party that’s more interested in throwing red meat to their base than governing.”

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Colorado House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, together with Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp, today introduced new legislation designed to nullify federal health care reform–apparently the rejection of anti-“Obamacare” Amendment 63 by the voters last year was not convincing. Part of a multi-state strategy to pass similar legislation, the “Healthcare Opportunity and Patient Empowerment (HOPE) Act” would opt Colorado entirely out of the Medicaid system, replacing it with block grants pending approval of such a system by Congress.

As we said, the legislation is part of a strategy being pushed by the Sam Adams Alliance, and a number of other “Tea Party” groups, as a novel way of undermining the federal health reform legislation passed by Congress in 2010. While it’s highly doubtful that this bill will get far beyond the GOP-controlled House, it will be interesting to see how much time is wasted on it–and how much it may distract from the real health reform implementation that needs to be passed.

Full release after the jump.

Republican Leaders Introduce Legislation to Override the Federal Health Care Law

Today the Healthcare Opportunity & Patient Empowerment (HOPE) Act was introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives. The bill would allow Colorado to opt out of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) by joining an interstate compact which, once approved by the U.S. House and Senate, would supersede prior federal law and give regulatory authority to the states in the compact.

The signature of the President is not necessary to approve interstate compacts, so President Obama could not veto the legislation if approved by Congress.

Republican House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, Majority Whip B.J. Nikkel and Senate Republican Leader Mike Kopp are sponsoring this legislation to preserve Coloradans’ individual liberty and control over healthcare decisions.

This legislation was introduced just shortly after U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson ruled the federal PPACA unconstitutional. Republican House Majority Leader Amy Stephens emphasized the necessity of this legislation by saying, “We need to discuss creative ways to move the healthcare debate forward in light of Judge Vinson’s ruling. Most importantly, this conversation must be founded on the principles of promoting the free market and consumer choice.”

“The U.S. Constitution allows Colorado and other states to form interstate compacts which, once approved by Congress, give them complete regulatory authority outside federal law,” said Senate Republican Leader Mike Kopp. “We believe healthcare decisions should be made on the local level, not by bureaucrats in Washington.”

Senator Kopp and Representative Stephens are in discussions with legislative leaders in several states. Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, Missouri, and Tennessee have already introduced compact legislation, and leaders in Texas and Florida are considering it. Only two states are needed to create an interstate compact.

Authority for this action comes from the “Compact Clause” of the U.S. Constitution (Article I Section 10). The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that Congressional consent transforms interstate compacts into federal law in the 1981 case Cuyler v. Adams. Approval of the President is not required. Once the compact is approved by Congress, the signatory states would become responsible for the regulation of healthcare within their own jurisdictions without federal mandates.

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PACE RESPONDS TO HOUSE REPUBLICAN PLAN TO UNDERMINE FEDERAL HEALTHCARE REFORM

(Denver) – House Democratic Leader Sal Pace (D-Pueblo) put out the following statement regarding the House Republican announcement to undermine the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“This is clearly just political posturing by a Republican party that’s more interested in throwing red meat to their base than governing.  House Democrats are committed to fighting to put out-of-work Coloradans back into good jobs, and we call on House Republicans to do the same.  Enough games, let’s do what the people of Colorado elected us to do – balance the budget the right way, help get people back to work, and steer our state towards prosperity.

“The Affordable Care Act is only just beginning to be implemented in Colorado.  The wisest decision we can make as a state is to give the Act a chance to work here before we try to dismantle it.”

Background:  According to recent data provided by the Colorado Trust, the Affordable Care Act is estimated to create 19,000 more jobs in Colorado by 2019; lower premiums between 10% and 25%; and slow the growth of health care costs by between 5.5% and 17% in Colorado by 2019 than it would have been without reform.  It will also result in upwards of 500,000 more Coloradans getting health care coverage.

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