Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act in Arizona
An article ran in Arizona earlier this week detailing Arizona’s history with ALEC’s Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act—which preserves the right of patients to pay directly for medical care, and prohibits the government from penalizing residents and businesses for failing to purchase health insurance.
“It does act as a defense measure,” said Sean Riley, a legislative analyst for the American Legislative Exchange Council. “Once federal law conflicts with state law, I think it’s something they can challenge.”
To date, 44 states have filed legislation modeled after the Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act, and 14 states have passed the legislation via statute or constitutional amendment. As the article notes, Arizona is currently the only state to have enacted legislation as both a statute and constitutional amendment. Ohio and Oklahoma have enacted constitutional amendments. Alabama, Florida, and Wyoming will have constitutional amendments on the 2012 ballot, and Montana will have a legislatively referred statute on the 2012 ballot.