Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Americans for Prosperity supports several important bills going before the Texas House Select Committee on State Sovereignty today that would provide cost-effective and viable alternatives to the federal health care law.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is neither affordable nor is it health care. It is a mandate which will cost Texans jobs and money" said AFP State Director Peggy Venable.
We at AFP support HJR 24 by Rep. Ken Paxton and HB 5 by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst because these bills would provide avenues for Texas to shape its own health care reform."
AFP also supports Texas Attorney General Greg Abbotts lawsuit challenging the federal legislations constitutionality.
HJR 24 the Health Care Freedom Act seeks to protect two essential rights. First it protects a persons right to participate or not in any health care system and prohibits the government from imposing fines or penalties on that persons decision. Second it protects the right of individuals to purchaseand the right of doctors to providelawful medical services without government fine or penalty. The Health Care Freedom Act would place these essential rights in the state constitution.
HB 5 provides the framework for setting up a health care compact which is an interstate compact that returns responsibility and authority for the health care system to the state of Texas. It gets Congress and lobbyists out of the business of controlling the health care industry and empowers Texans to create their own health care system. It keeps the tax money currently collected by the Federal Government in the state and uses those funds to pay for health care in Texas creating greater accountability and more flexibility.
The Health Care Compact does not contain any health care-related provisions but rather provides a legal framework within which we can create our own health care system. It essentially provides a permanent waiver for Texans to create whatever health care regulations the legislature deems best for Texans.
With an interstate health care compact Texans are simply asking for a permanent waiver from this legislation a waiver which has already been granted to more than 1000 companies" Venable said.
Lets face it" Venable added If the Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act is enacted in Texas we will no longer have either patient protections nor affordability. The Health Care Freedom Act and the Health Care Compact are steps in the right direction for state sovereignty. We extend our thanks to Rep. Ken Paxton and Rep. Lois Kolkhorst for providing these pieces of legislation."
