Prop C pits feds versus state: Measure on August 3 ballot aimed at preventing federal government from requiring insurance purchase

After nearly one year of heated debate, negotiations, and public demonstrations, both in support of and against health care reform, President Obama accomplished one of his top domestic policy goals by signing the “Affordable Care Act” into law on March 23. Opponents of the legislation quickly began to take their fight to the states by way of the court system and state legislatures.

In Missouri, this resulted in Proposition C, also known as the “Health Care Freedom Amendment”, which will be on the Aug. 3 primary election ballot. The measure is intended to block the federal government from requiring people to buy health insurance and bans punishment for those without health insurance.

Even before the final federal bill was decided on and passed, the debate was already brewing here in Missouri on whether or not individual states should have the right to refuse complying with the new provisions if the federal legislation were to pass. State Sen. Jane Cunningham (R-St. Louis County) introduced the “Health Care Freedom Act” prior to the 2010 legislative session when she filed Senate Joint Resolution 25 on Dec. 1, 2009. Six months later, on May 11, after many long and wide ranging debates, the Missouri House followed the Senate by voting to pass the resolution and requiring by law that it be placed on the August state-wide ballot.

The intricacies of the federal health care debate were voiced from supporters and critics of the President’s proposal over the months leading up to its final passage and many of the same arguments were made during the debate held in Jefferson City.

“The bloated ‘Obamacare’ legislation was so lengthy; no one read and understood all the provisions of the act, nor its consequences,” Platte County Republican Committee Chairman James Rooney said.

“The purpose and intent of the federal plan is to assure health care coverage for all citizens,” Platte County Democratic Committee Chairman Chair Pauli Kendrick said. “It is time to put the plan to work.”

With a number of issues already facing Missouri outside of the federal government’s health care legislation, some questioned whether the time spent on debating the issue was worth taking away from issues more state-related, such as the massive cuts needed to balance the budget, job creation, and tax credit reform. But few are against the idea of allowing Missourians the opportunity to voice their position on the issue in the form of a vote.

“The majority party’s constituents, along with a lot of mine, were contacting us often so we took up a lot of these issues relating to the federal government,” District 32 State Rep. Jason Grill, a Democrat, said. “Although I support many of these resolutions and the right for the people to vote on them, I think we could have spent more time focusing on problems here in Missouri on the state level.”

Some of the key issues being voiced by proponents of the proposition include states’ rights to reject federal legislation, the complicated nature of the lengthy bill, and the process the Democrats took in order to get the votes required to get final passage.

“Missourians have an opportunity to send a message that bad legislation at the federal level will not be tolerated,” Rooney said. “Voting YES on Missouri’s Proposition C also sends a symbolic message of support to those interested in repealing ‘Obamacare’ to eliminate these sweetheart deals and sending healthcare reform back through the legislative process to get it right.”

Opponents of the measure see it as mostly symbolic, intended to send a political message against the President’s agenda and believe the measure has little likelihood of holding up in court in the long-term.

“Wellness for all Missouri citizens is the ultimate objective and is possible when all citizens purchase medical insurance,” Kendrick said. “A NO vote is a vote against paying for the high costs of emergency visits and medical bills for those who choose not to or are unable to purchase their own insurance.”

With Proposition C on the ballot in August, primary elections usually see lower voter turnout. With a small amount of Democratic primary contests and several key competitive Republican primaries this year, it is likely there will be higher turnout of Republican voters, who would more than likely support Proposition C. Nonetheless, both local party chairs encouraged all people to vote on August 3rd.