Duo: Bill would offer free choice

COEUR d’ALENE — If it’s signed into law, it would give Idaho the right to sue the federal government should it try to mandate health care reform.

Reps. Jim Clark, Lynn Luker, R-Eagle, and Raul Labrador, R-Boise, have drafted House Bill 391— the Idaho Health Freedom Act — which proposes to protect the right of free choice on health care services for the people of Idaho.

“We want to put it in the books to protect us forever,” Clark said. “It gives us standing in the federal court.”

Clark began studying health care reform a couple of years ago when he noticed talk of overhaul gaining steam in Washington, D.C.

Some politicians believe that because health care isn’t mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, it automatically designates the decision to individual states under states’ rights.

But Clark said he wants to remove any of the gray area since health care isn’t specifically listed in Idaho’s Constitution, either.

“They made me do this because they got as far as they got,” the Hayden Lake Republican said of the federal plan that passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

Even though he said he doesn’t expect the national reform to pass, he would like to see Idaho adopt the law since the polarizing topic has been brought up for years, and will likely be brought up in the future.

Idaho now joins more than 20 other states considering legislation or state constitutional amendments to nullify or resist any future national health care plan.

Idaho’s version would also give Gov. Butch Otter the legal backing to follow through with his recent threats of lawsuits over health care.