SPONSOR: Helms
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Health and Mental Health Policy by a vote of 11 to 5, with one voting Present. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules- Legislative Oversight by a vote of 7 to 3.
Upon voter approval, this resolution amends the Missouri Constitution stating that the people of the state have a fundamental right to choose for themselves which lawful health care products or services they will purchase and to make and enforce private agreements about how the purchaser will compensate the provider of such products or services. The amendment would require that any amendment to the Missouri Constitution relating to health care would have to have a two-thirds majority vote of the people.
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this resolution puts to a vote of the people an amendment to the Missouri Constitution stating that the people of the state have a fundamental right to choose what health care products they want and will help keep health insurance private which could reduce costs. Forced single payer government health care is socialism, the affordable care act cost more money than it made. The rights and freedoms America was built upon guarantee our freedom of health care and by adding this to the constitution it will keep out big government.
Testifying for the resolution was Representative Helms.
OPPONENTS: Those who oppose the resolution say that this bill would lead to a number of lawsuits under the affordable care act. This language is too broad. Maybe this resolution should need a two-thirds vote to pass because it is about health care. We need to worry more about long term care prices and prescription drug prices.
Testifying against the resolution were American Association of Retired Persons (AARP); and Wayne Lee.