Illinois Legislator's HB 6842 Would Allow Opting Out of Obamacare

March 26, 2010 - In spite of its reluctant Attorney General, the State of Illinois just might resist ObamaCare after all. On Thursday night, March 25, Illinois became the 40th state to introduce legislation to allow its residents to “opt-out” of the Democrats’ job-killing government takeover of health care. The bill, HB 6842, “[p]rovides that no resident of the State…shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance” and “[p]rovides that no provision of the Act shall render a resident of this State liable for any penalty, assessment, fee, or fine as a result of his failure to procure or obtain health insurance coverage.” Source The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) noted in a press release that "Illinois became the 40th state where legislators have introduced, or will introduce, legislation modeled after the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act. Illinois House Bill 6842 prohibits a requirement to purchase health insurance and would provide the state with protection in a constitutional challenge of the federal health reform bill." It should come as no surprise to anyone that the driving force behind HB 6842 is - surprise! - a Republican. Even as Illinois' Attorney General Lisa Madigan (a Democrat) was saying that she would not join 13 other states' AGs in challenging "ObamaCare," State Rep Bill Mitchell (R-Decatur) introduced HB 6842 to essentially accomplish some of the same goals. Mitchell's HB 6842 is, as reported by Illinois Review, "patterned after Virginia's law undermining the federal mandate requiring individuals to buy health insurance. HB 6842 removes the requirement in Illinois, and cancels any penalties associated with the federal mandate for health insurance." Illinois is in serious financial meltdown. Governor Quinn has been weak and indecisive about how to deal with the mess. The federally mandated, nationalized healthcare that was voted on earlier this week will certainly affect every states' budgets, and profoundly, but it is too early to know just how. Illinois Democrats who have not spoken out in favor of challenging ObamaCare seem happy to play a kind of Russian roulette with the state's already-injured economy. Keep your fingers crossed that the Republicans in Springfield can guide HB 6842 through to passage. Get ready for more headlines like this one, from the Los Angeles Times: "States fighting healthcare law don't have precedent on their side‎." It's meant to discourage the challengers of ObamaCare, but fails to take into account a simple fact: A precedent is set when something happens for the first time. There is, as the saying goes, a first time for everything. After all, where was the precedent for a Marxist-Leninist takeover of one sixth of the U.S. economy? RELATED: Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB6842 Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for HB6842 It’s official: Louisiana signs on with Florida in legal challenge to HCR Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed