HARRISBURG – State Senator David G. Argall (R-29) today joined a growing number of legislators who are opposed to the newly signed federal health care law by co-sponsoring legislation in the state Senate to prohibit the federal government from mandating participation in any given health care system and eliminate fines or penalties on those who decline to enroll in a health care plan.
As a result of Congress approving legislation mandating individuals who currently are without health care to purchase it, legislative proposals are being put forth to protect Pennsylvania residents. Two such proposals soon to be introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati (R-25) and Senator Mike Folmer (R-48) would prevent Pennsylvanians from being fined for not enrolling in such programs or for mandating participation.
“During what many are calling the ‘Great Recession,’ our federal government approved an all-too-expensive 2,000 page measure, which many Americans simply cannot afford,” said Argall. “This law is not only bad for patients and medical practitioners, but also bad for us, the taxpayers. I am pleased to join Senators Scarnati and Folmer in preventing the federal government from imposing this new law and its penalties on my constituents.”
Senator Scarnati’s proposal would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to prohibit the federal government from mandating that an individual participate in a given health care system and also prohibit the imposition of any fines or penalties on an individual who declines to participate in such a system.
Senator Folmer’s legislation, modeled after Virginia’s recently passed legislation, will prohibit the federal government from forcing citizens to purchase government-approved health insurance.
In December, Argall held a Schuylkill County town meeting to discuss health care reform initiatives on the state and federal levels. “My co-sponsorship of this legislation to allow local residents avoid these confusing and expensive new federal mandates is a direct result of what people asked me to do at that meeting,” Argall noted. “Both of these bills reinforce the intent of the 10th Amendment that powers not granted to the national government nor prohibited to the states by the constitution of the United States are reserved to the states or the people.”