Small Biz Health Care Daily: Virginia Votes Against Mandate

Politicians love imposing health insurance mandates. They take credit for telling those big bad insurance companies to do something, trying to score political points accordingly.

However, what they fail to mention is that mandates drive up the costs of health insurance, thereby reducing access to affordable coverage.

One of the biggest mandates, of course, is being pushed under ObamaCare at the federal level, and it goes beyond insurance company and directly hitting individuals. That is, it requires individuals to have health insurance coverage, or pay a tax. Such a mandate, of course, would hit many families and individuals, including the self-employed, quite hard.

Well, legislators in Virginia took a major step in opposition to such a federal mandate for health insurance coverage. The Associated Press reported:

Virginia's General Assembly became the first in the nation Wednesday to approve legislation that bucks any attempt by President Barack Obama and Congress to implement a national health care overhaul in individual states.

The Republican-ruled House of Delegates, with wide Democratic support, voted 80-17 without debate for the largely symbolic step aimed at the Democratic-backed reforms pushed by Obama and stalled in Congress. The vote sends the measure to Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell who intends to sign it.

Thirty-four other state legislatures have either filed or proposed similar measures — statutes or constitutional amendments — rejecting health insurance mandates, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Raymond J. Keating
Chief Economist
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council