[Vision2020] Idaho Can Roll their Own (Health Care)

[Ron Force]

Wyden says states can design their own health plans
By Jeff 
Mapes, The Oregonian 
March 25, 2010, 4:48PM
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden says he has an alternative for states seeking to 
overturn the new health reform bill in the courts: develop your own 
health-care plan. 

The Democratic senator on Thursday touted an 
amendment, which he inserted in the new health care law, that allows 
states to opt out of the federal plan – including the controversial 
individual insurance mandate. 

As long as they meet the general 
goals of the new law, "they can go off and do their own thing," said 
Wyden in a telephone interview. "This is ideal for reformers" from both 
the political left and right who aren't happy with the final provisions 
of the bill, he added. 

Critics, however, questioned whether 
Wyden's provision will wind up being a practical alternative for state 
officials unhappy with the federal law – particularly since it wouldn't 
take effect until 2017, three years after the full new federal health 
reform is supposed to be in place. 

"It's particularly 
ineffective if the flexibility only comes in in 2017," said Todd 
Gaziano, who directs the Center for Legal & Judicial Studies at the 
Heritage Foundation. Gaziano agrees with the 14 state attorneys general, including Washington state's Rob McKenna, who think the new law is 
unconstitutional and plan to challenge it in court. 

Wyden's 
amendment was drawn from the health-care legislation he first introduced with Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, in 2007. Wyden couldn't persuade the 
Obama administration or Democratic legislative leaders to adopt the bulk of his bill, which sought to give most consumers a wide range of 
insurance plans. 

But he did get some pieces of his bill in the 
final health care blueprint, including his "waiver for state 
innovation." 

Wyden said he was particularly pleased that the 
Senate's legal counsel testified that under his provision, states could 
conceivably opt out of the requirement that individuals purchase 
insurance or pay a fine. 

That individual insurance mandate is at the heart of the pending legal challenge from the attorneys general – 
all but one of whom is a Republican. They maintain it is 
unconstitutional for the federal government to require individuals to 
purchase something. 

At the same time, Wyden said his amendment 
could be used by states that want to offer residents a public insurance 
option. Democratic legislative leaders sought without success to get a 
national public option, which was a chief goal of many liberal 
activists. 

Wyden said his amendment could be of particular 
interest in Oregon, which has sought several federal waivers in the past to fashion the Oregon Health Plan. Former Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is 
running again for his old office, has made it clear he is interested in 
once again using the new federal law to remake the state's approach to 
health coverage. 

Wyden said he is trying to assemble bipartisan 
support to change the new law so that states can begin seeking waivers 
to devise their own plans as early as 2014. But, he admitted, "We will 
definitely have a fight on our hands" to accomplish this. 

Some 
of Wyden's own philosophical allies are skeptical about letting states 
start working on their own plans at the same the federal government is 
trying to implement the complex elements of the new health care system. 

"We'd like to see states move forward with this model" before devising plans 
on their own, said Kathleen Stoll, director of health policy for 
Families USA, a consumer group pushing for universal health coverage. 

Stoll said that while the Wyden provision could be a "safety valve" for some 
states, she did not see it leading to broad differences. "I don't see 40 states doing their own creative thing," she said. 

-Jeff Mapes


      
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