In another blow to the federal healthcare "reform" monstrosity known as "Obamacare," Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, a Republican, has signed an order banning portions of law.
State
Republicans had already passed a so-called "nullification" bill, which
Otter said would have been too restrictive in terms of offering state
residents better choices, and opted instead to sign an executive order
that he said would negate that issue.
"The (Republican) bill went
further than what the authors intended it to do," Otter said. "It
basically said you couldn't plan anything that looks like 'Obamacare.'"
In
a letter to state Attorney General Lawrence G. Wasden, Otter said the
legislation "can impose regulations and requirements that discourage or
make it impossible for insurers to offer affordable health coverage to individuals and small employers in Idaho."
The
Idaho governor's order is the latest in a list of legislative actions
taken by states against the measure. As of this writing, 28 states are plaintiffs in lawsuits aimed at stopping the implementation of Obamacare on some level.
Federal courts have ruled both ways on it, but one of the most recent rulings, by U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Florida said the law was unconstitutional, saying no American should be forced into buying health insurance.
"I must reluctantly conclude that Congress
exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the act with the
individual mandate," Vinson wrote. "That is not to say, of course, that
Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care
system. The health care market is more than one-sixth of the national
economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and regulate
this market. That has not been disputed in this case."
"While
the individual mandate was clearly 'necessary and essential' to the act
as drafted, it is not 'necessary and essential' to health care reform in
general," he continued. "Because the individual mandate is
unconstitutional, the entire act must be voided."
If anything Obamacare perpetuates corporate health care and Big Pharma, which both work in collusion to keep a "medical consumer" mentality within the industry. That forces most people to remain hooked on a system that does not promote healthier lifestyles which would, in turn, require less dependence on the healthcare industry in the first place.
Whether
the issue is the "must-buy-insurance" mandate, the top-heavy and
expensive new rules and regulations or the law's reliance on a failed
system, Obamacare is an abomination. So, any setback the law suffers is a
good thing.
