Montana Now 20th State to Defend Health Care Choice

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC), the nation's largest individual membership association of
state legislators, congratulates Montana State Senators Jim Shockley and Greg
Hinkle for announcing their intent to introduce a constitutional amendment to
protect the right of individuals to make their own health care choices.
Montana now becomes the 20th state where legislators have introduced, or will
introduce, legislation modeled after ALEC's Freedom of Choice in Health Care
Act. The formal announcement will occur on Thursday, November 5 at Noon on the
Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn at 217 N. 27th Street, in Billings.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091014/ALECLOGO)

"We all recognize the need to help make medical care and health insurance more
affordable and accessible for more people," said Iowa Representative Linda
Upmeyer, minority whip, family nurse practitioner, and chair of ALEC's Health
and Human Services Task Force. "However, creating new mandates for individuals
and employers will not reduce costs or increase competition, it will trample
on the rights of individuals to make their own health care choices and hurt
our economy," she added.

The Montana constitutional amendment preserves the rights of individuals to
pay directly for medical care -- something not allowed in single-payer
countries like Canada -- and prohibits any individual from being penalized for
not purchasing government-defined insurance. Any state attempt to require an
individual to purchase health insurance -- or forbid an individual from
purchasing services outside of the required health care system -- would be
rendered unconstitutional. The measure may also cause a federalism clash if
Congress passes a law with either of these provisions.

"This is not a battle that hasn't been fought before or won before," said
Christie Herrera, health policy director for the American Legislative Exchange
Council, a state legislator group coordinating the effort.

"States are allowed to give greater constitutional protection than what is
provided for in the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution provides a
floor, not a ceiling, for the preservation of individual rights," Herrera
added.

Montana now joins legislators in eight states (AK, GA, KS, LA, MO, MS, NH, and
UT) that have already publicly announced their intention to file legislation
to protect their citizens from any health care mandates. Another 11 states
have already filed or pre-filed similar legislation (AZ, FL, IN, MN, ND, NM,
MI, OH, PA, WV, WY). Arizona's measure, which passed the legislature in June,
will be put before voters on the 2010 ballot.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation's largest
nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators.

SOURCE American Legislative Exchange Council

Jorge Amselle of the American Legislative Exchange Council, +1-202-742-8536,
jamselle@alec.org