The Bradley Amendment

by
Steve MacDonald

Not wasting any time, State Senator Jeb Bradley has already released an amendment for SB 505 to protect the people of New Hampshire from the overreach of the federal government on the matter of Health Insurance.

Without further delay…

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Floor Amendment to SB 505-FN-A 

Amend the title of the bill by replacing it with the following:

AN ACT                relative to health insurance coverage.

Amend the bill by replacing all after the enacting clause with the following:

      ­1  New Section; Insurance Department; Health Insurance Coverage.  Amend RSA 400-A by inserting after section 14 the following new section:

      400-A:14-a  Health Insurance Coverage.  No resident of this state, regardless of whether he or she has or is eligible for health insurance coverage under any policy or program provided by or through his or her employer, or a plan sponsored by the state or the federal government, shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage except as required by a court or the department of health and human services where an individual is named a party in a judicial or administrative proceeding.  No provision of this title shall render a resident of this state liable for any penalty, assessment, fee, or fine as a result of his or her failure to procure or obtain health insurance coverage.  This section shall not apply to individuals voluntarily applying for coverage under a state-administered program pursuant to Title XIX or Title XXI of the Social Security Act. This section shall not apply to students being required by an institution of higher education to obtain and maintain health insurance as a condition of enrollment.  Nothing in this section shall impair the rights of persons to privately contract for health insurance for family members or former family members.

      ­2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

2010-1069s

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill provides that a resident of New Hampshire shall not be required to obtain, or be assessed a fee or fine for failure to obtain, health insurance coverage. 

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I’d like to encourage our state legislature to support this amendment.  It is imperative that we protect the sovereign state of New Hampshire from the usurpers of States Rights in D.C.  And it is important that we join the majority of states in drawing a line in the sand to secure some semblance of self rule and local control before the feds take it all away.

We may not all agree on matters of policy. And we surely do not agree on this one. But one thing is true.  Eventually there will a different administration, supporting polices that insurance reform lovers hate.  You cannot with any integrity embrace such an abuse of rights as Obama’s insurance reform package and then whine when it’s something else later on you do not yourselves support.

Or maybe you can.  But that’s your choice, and we’ll be watching.

Cross Posted from NH Insider

Author

  • Steve MacDonald

    Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, blogger, and a member of the Board of directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor of GraniteGrok.com, a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, and a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

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