Voters in three states support the idea of rendering the individual and employer mandates of health reform null and void, while residents in another rejected such a proposal.
In Arizona, Proposition 106, which would amend the state constitution to ban forced participation in healthcare plans, was approved by 55% of voters last week.
And in Oklahoma, the Health Care Freedom Amendment, which would also rule as unconstitutional any law that forces state residents or employers to participate in health plans, was approved by a near 2-to-1 margin.
Those results coincide with an August primary ballot vote in Missouri in which residents approved a new law that says the state can’t force people to pay penalties if they don’t have health insurance.
One state, however, has rejected a similar measure. Nearly 55% of Colorado voters rejected Health Care Amendment 63, which would’ve overturned any law requiring residents to purchase health insurance.
Now, what effect the state amendments that were passed will actually have is another debate — one that’ll have to be settled in courtrooms across America, due to the fact that federal law pre-empts state law under the U.S. Constitution.
