ACTION ALERT
Arizona talked the talk by becoming a plaintiff in NFIB v. Sebelius, just decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s now time to walk the walk. All Arizona elected officials swore an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, it is their duty not to implement an unconstitutional law. The U.S. Supreme Court cannot re-write the law or the Constitution. It can simply render an opinion, restricted to the issues presented. Arizona legislators do not fulfill their Oath by hiding behind this opinion.
States have the power to block ObamaCare by refusing to implement the exchanges or the Medicaid expansion. They are under pressure to implement these things, primarily by lobbyists of the insurance cartel and big hospital chains, for which Medicaid is a big cash cow. Exchanges are a tool to drive small insurers out of business.
We need your help to overcome the pressure by special interest groups.
Below is a list of Arizona Senators who have not signed the Arizona Health Care Freedom Pledge and need to be called, in estimated order of likelihood of convertibility. We have 11 signers and need at least 16 (five more) in order to prevent the Senate from approving the exchange in a special session this summer or fall.
| Sen. Adam Driggs | (R-Paradise Valley) | 602-926-3016 |
| Sen. Al Melvin | (R-Oro Valley) | 602-926-4326 |
| Sen. Steve Yarbrough | (R-Chandler) | 602-926-5863 |
| Sen. Steve Pierce | (R-Yavapai Co.) | 602-926-5584 |
| Sen. Linda Gray | (R-NW Phoenix) | 602-926-3376 |
| Sen. John Nelson | (R-West Valley) | 602-926-5872 |
| Sen. John McComish | (R-Ahwatukee) | 602-926-5898 |
| Sen. Jerry Lewis | (R-Mesa) | 602-926-5760 |
| Sen. Rich Crandall | (R-Mesa) | 602-926-3020 |
Please call them. Tell them you are a physician who is very concerned about the impact of ObamaCare on the cost and availability of care in Arizona. Ask them to sign the Arizona Health Care Freedom Pledge.
Here are some suggestions:
Doctor: I’m concerned about the Brewer Administration’s efforts to set up a state health insurance exchange under ObamaCare. I wanted to ask you some questions about that…
Doctor: People in the insurance industry (including otherwise strong conservatives, such as Constantin Querard) are telling conservative legislators that Arizona will have more “control” over its health care market if we set up our own state exchange. Do you really believe that?
Follow-Up: All exchanges will have to follow federal rules. Just as AHCCCS must. We have almost no state control in the federal-state Medicaid “partnership,” and ObamaCare will be worse. Under ObamaCare, we will have the HHS mandates PLUS anything that local lobbyists, including disease group lobbyists/advocates, will push on the Arizona exchange. Arizona already has some of the heaviest mandates on private insurance of any state in the country.
Doctor: Did you know that President Obama’s health care system, as enacted, is dependent upon the creation of state exchanges for the distribution of federal subsidies? Because of the flaw in the drafting of the legislation, federal subsidies cannot flow through federally established exchanges. Further, employer fines under ObamaCare are only for employees who get federal subsidies (through a state exchange). So…
No Arizona exchange = No federal subsidies = No employer penalties/fines We can avoid job-killing employer penalties by not establishing an exchange.
Doctor: Are you concerned that ObamaCare may become much harder to repeal if Arizonans are allowed to become addicted to federal subsidies?
Doctor: Do you know how much the exchange will cost Arizona families and businesses in new taxes or fees if Arizona sets up its own exchange? The Massachusetts exchange under RomneyCare is costing tens of millions of dollars a year. Jan Brewer’s insurance czar, Don Hughes, can’t even tell us how much this is going to cost us. (Probably tens of millions of dollars per year, after 2015.)
Doctor: Do you know when Governor Brewer is planning to try to get legislative approval for the exchange? Some of the folks in our coalition think she could try to push it through in a special session after the August 28 primary, but before October 1, so that she can give federal HHS a 90-day period to approve the Arizona exchange before the January deadline.
Doctor: If RomneyCare is a guide, the exchange system and the new mandates will cause insurance premiums to skyrocket. This is going to be a disaster. Do you really want YOUR fingerprints on the thing? Why not let the Federal Government take the blame for the disaster?
Doctor: Would you consider OPPOSING any bill, regulation, legislation, or executive action–including the exchange–that implements President Obama’s health care legislation, including bills that create new bureaucracies that must be funded by new surcharges, fees, or taxes of any kind.
THE CLOSER: Thank you! Would you be willing to sign the Health Care Freedom Pledge at www.ArizonaHealthCareFreedom.com ? May I ask the organizers of the Pledge to give your office a call to collect the signature?
Yes, that’s the Pledge promoted by the Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity. Tom Jenney says you’re doing a fine job down there… AFP is offering to add points to its scorecard for any Legislators who sign the Pledge before the start of a special session on the exchange. Legislators can make arrangements to deliver the pledge by contacting tjenney@afphq.org or (602) 478-0146.