Healthcare: the State of the Issue

You can’t look at Washington right now without seeing something about healthcare. According to most sources, the need for healthcare reform is unanimous; there is simply some disagreement on the scope and scale of the reform. There’s a major problem, however, with all of these healthcare reform conversations: the federal government has no business reforming health care in the ways Washington is currently discussing.

When our founders drafted the Constitution of the United States, they built the framework for our federal government. The key aspect of a framework is that as you go on, you can dress the walls, but you can’t build outside of the frame. The constitution limits the chances of a massive federal government restricting the rights of not only the citizens, but also the states. Reform of healthcare in America belongs to the citizens and the states. This is a core value of our founding fathers: the federal government is to protect the citizens and the states, not rule over them.

The constitution says in Article IV section 2: The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. Many people have guessed at the meaning of this phrase, but one interpretation has held true; no state may discriminate against citizens from another state in favor of citizens from its own state. This is the only place in which the federal government has any say in healthcare reform amongst the states, and it’s one of the most important reforms to reducing healthcare costs: the elimination of state mandates.

State mandates are requirements placed on health insurance providers who wish to do business in a given state. The provider must cover X, Y, and Z if they wish to sell insurance. The problem is, it effectively makes it illegal for you or me to buy health insurance from another state, even if it’s more cost effective and better fits my needs. What free market? This is a clear violation of the constitution as it restricts our freedom to purchase products across state lines, and insurance companies’ rights to do business with any free citizen.

It’s time we get leaders in Washington who will adhere to constitutional solutions to our problems. Leaders who are bold enough to work within the framework of our founders, who will empower the citizens, not the politicians, to solve our problems. Twice American means first knowing the framework established by our founders, and second working within the framework to preserve the liberty of “we the people.”