Kansas state lawmakers push for health care insurance opt-out

Three Republican lawmakers in Kansas want to give the state an opt-out should Congress pass health reforms that mandate individual health insurance.

Their proposal, which would alter the Kansas Constitution, is similar to efforts under way in more than half the states, including Missouri. It’s a pointed attempt to get President Barack Obama and Congress to back off efforts to retool the nation’s health care system.

“Kansas citizens have a right to make their own health care decisions without federal czars,” said Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, a Shawnee Republican and one of the three sponsors of the proposed amendment.

The amendment would say no law can require individuals or employers to buy health insurance.

To be added to the state constitution, the legislation must be passed by a two-thirds majority of the Kansas House and Senate and then be approved by voters next year.

Pilcher-Cook, with Rep. Brenda Landwehr of Wichita, and Rep. Peggy Mast of Emporia, announced the legislation Tuesday and predicted it would be a key debate of the coming session, which begins in January.

Democrats were quick to note that the three lawmakers receive taxpayer-funded health insurance. Kenny Johnston, the party’s executive director, called it hypocritical to try to block health reforms while getting coverage on the public’s dime.

“For many Kansans, these extreme right Republicans would eliminate the best hope for affordable coverage,” Johnston said. “Just saying ‘no’ is not a solution.”

But the legislation’s sponsors insisted they’re not against reforms, only federal mandates.

“We were created to have state sovereignty,” Landwehr said. “We were not set up to have the federal government tell the states who, what, when, where and how.”

Landwehr and Pilcher-Cook said they don’t believe the amendment, if successful, would put the state in jeopardy of losing federal health care funds.