Health, Pharmaceuticals, and Safety Net Programs

ALEC's Efforts to Limit Patient Rights and End Social Welfare Programs The bills on this page reveal how bills supported by ALEC corporations and politicians privatize Medicare, deregulate health insurers, protect negligent doctors, and cut holes in the safety net. These anti-patient "model bills" advance the interests of global pharmaceutical companies and the health insurance industry, while eroding the rights and health of Americans. Politicians are elected to represent the people, not corporations. Through ALEC, corporations have both a VOICE and a VOTE on specific changes to health laws. Do you?

READ the "Model Bills" HERE Click here for a zip file of bills relating to Health, Pharmaceuticals, and the Social Safety Net For a full list of bills from this section, click here For descriptions of some of these bills, scroll down or click here.

How YOU Can Expose ALEC & Share What You Learn SPREAD THE WORD. Share information about ALEC through Facebook, e-mail and Twitter. Concerned groups and people in every state need this to investigate how ALEC corporations are rewriting laws for their own advantage. And, please join the conversation on Facebook! EXPOSE ALEC LEGISLATORS. Demand the truth about which politicians in your state are in ALEC. Uncover whether YOUR tax dollars are paying ALEC "dues." Expose politicians who accept “scholarships” from ALEC's corporate-funded coffers for fancy trips. EXPOSE ALEC'S ROLE IN YOUR STATE HOUSE. Read these corporate-backed "model bills" NOW and cross-check them with bills in your state legislature. Ask your local media to report on what you have found and write your local newspaper. SHARE YOUR DISCOVERIES. Tell us what you uncovered! Tweet what you learn with the hashtag #ALECexposed, join a discussion on this site or email us a confidential tip via editor AT ALECexposed.org. And, follow our tweets on Twitter!

Get the Goods on ALEC ALEC Exposed Audio & Video From The Nation Magazine: ALEC & Democracy ALEC & Education ALEC & Labor ALEC & Health ALEC & Koch ALEC & Prisons From PR Watch: ALEC & Injury Law ALEC & Wisconsin ALEC & Tobacco ALEC & Climate Change From SourceWatch: Press on ALEC Exposed ALEC Quotes

Who Is Behind ALEC? ALEC Corporations ALEC Politicians ALEC "Scholars" ALEC Boards & Task Forces ALEC Staff More Information ALEC FAQ ALEC Exposed Press Release ALEC Funding ALEC Hotels ALEC Decoded ALEC & NCSL Comparison Common Cause Asks IRS to Audit ALEC Common Cause Study on ALEC Member Campaign Contributions ProPublica's Database of ALEC Campaign Contributions

Join the Conversation! No id supplied for Twitter account!

Learn MORE about the "Model Bills" ALEC Corporations Are Backing to Rewrite YOUR Rights The Center for Media and Democracy analyzed the bills ALEC politicians and corporations voted for. More analysis is available below and also at ALEC Exposed's sister sites, PRWatch and SourceWatch.

How the bills expand the power of insurance companies These bills or resolutions: Oppose health insurance reforms (LINK to resolution against the new health care law) Eliminate mandated benefits intended to ensure minimal care for American workers by effectively deregulating key aspects of the insurance market for small businesses, see also this related bill Permit sales by insurers not licensed in the purchaser’s state, allowing a "race to the bottom" in terms of mandated benefits for Americans and robust state regulation of health insurers Prevent patients injured or killed by medical malpractice from receiving full compensation for their injuries through: Abolishing joint and several liability rules that ensure full compensation among defendants that may share responsibility, such as surgeons, anesthetologists, nurses, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies Capping damages for pain and suffering and for the loss of companionship of a loved one who is killed due to medical negligence or incompetence (LINK) requiring that injury claims be processed by doctors and the hospital business first Prohibiting state or local efforts to limit hospital over-development, despite over-development increasing health care costs Promoting health savings accounts with tax benefits, that can be used by the wealthy as a tax shelter To see a full list of bills, click Bills Affecting Human Health here. Some of this Corporate Agenda Has Already Become Law In 2011, Wisconsin Sen. Joe Leibham (R) and Rep. Robin Vos (R) introduced ALEC's "Freedom of Choice in Health Care" constitutional amendment to thwart federal health care reforms. For decades, ALEC has been fighting to protect the health care industry from regulations that control costs, ensure basic services, and protect consumers. As the universal health care debate began in late 2008, Blue Cross Blue Shield helped craft a model state constitutional amendment to frustrate federal efforts towards an individual health insurance mandate or public option. In December 2008, the ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force passed the model amendment-- the three private sector members of that Task Force consisted of executives from Blue Cross Blue Shield, Johnson & Johnson, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) -- and the ALEC Board of Directors approved the amendment on January 14, 2009. According to ALEC, “in the 2010 session, 42 states either introduced or announced ALEC’s Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act. Eight states (Virginia, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee) passed the ALEC model as a statute, and two states (Arizona and Oklahoma) passed the ALEC model as a constitutional amendment.” Wisconsin Senator Leah Vukmir (named a 2009 ALEC "Legislator of the Year") is seeking to implement the ALEC "Health Care Choice Act for States" in Wisconsin: she is currently seeking co-sponsors for a similar bill, LRB 0373, and co-sponsored the comparable "Out-of-state Health Insurance Providers (Across State Lines)" bill (LRB 0921/1) in 2009. This bill would permit the purchase of health insurance across state lines from insurers not licensed in the state of the purchaser, which allows insurers to avoid state mandates for coverage. This would permit the sale of sub-standard health-insurance policies, most likely for a price lower than policies sold by in-state insurers, crowding-out more comprehensive policies and making it more difficult for persons with certain conditions to find inexpensive health care. Senator Vukmir is the ALEC "Health and Human Services" Task Force co-chair for 2011. In 2010, according to the ALEC "State Legislators Guide to Repealing Obama Care," nineteen states introduced such legislation and Wyoming enacted it. (Click [(LINK to Mary's article) here] to read more). Have any of these bills been introduced in your home state?

How are corporations attacking social welfare programs in these bills? These bills aim to erode social security protections in favor of corporate interests by: (click the link to download the bill) Supporting Medicare privatization by urging individual health savings accounts that may not cover the cost of care Capping Medical Assistance benefits in a state at the federal minimum through: prohibiting additional benefits that the state’s residents may need, or Creating barriers to the enactment of new health benefits Privatizing Medicaid through, for example: giving disadvantaged persons "vouchers" to purchase private insurance (in the form of a cash allowance), likely at high deductibles that would make most medical care unaffordable, and encouraging recipients to forego care by providing a partial refund to low-income recipients who do not use the full value of their benefits Opposing efforts at public health care in favor of a "free-market" approach that expands the pool of consumers for private insurance companies Rejecting guaranteed issue and community rating, or federal authority over state health reform programs These are but a few of the bills that attack the social safety net; to see all of the ALEC social welfare bills and send them to your computer individually, click here.. Promoting Medicaid Block Grants ALEC has issued two resolutions calling on Congress to amend Medicaid to replace the current funding program (a federal matching percentage of state costs) with block grants. Medicaid block grants are unlikely to provide adequate funds for states to meet growing Medicaid costs, particularly for persons with disabilities who rely on Medicaid for day-to-day life. If implemented, this change would reduce the total amount of funds available, resulting in either reduced coverage in Medicaid programs or restricted eligibility. While supporters say block grants give states "more flexibility," disability rights activists say "that’s like saying Jim Crow laws give states more flexibility to decide who gets to drink at their drinking fountains. Flexibility is basically a code word for abandonment." Medicaid block grants were part of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan's much-criticized 2011 budget plan.

ALEC Exposed is a project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). CMD does NOT accept donations from for-profit corporations or government agencies. More information about CMD is available here. You can reach CMD's Executive Director, Arn Pearson, via editor AT ALECexposed.org. Privacy policy: Other than material you post to this wiki in your name, our privacy policy is that we will not disclose private personally identifiable information or data about you, such as your name, email address, or other information, unless required by law. On copyright: ALEC Exposed considers contributions to this wiki to be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License or in accordance with law. Information on how to provide us with notice regarding copyright is available at this link. Notices regarding copyright or other matters should be sent to our designated agent, Arn Pearson, via email (editor AT ALECexposed.org).

Worker and Consumer Rights · Tort Reform and Injured Americans · Privatizing Schools and Higher Ed Policy · Health, Pharmaceuticals and Safety Net Programs · Environment, Energy and Agriculture · Democracy, Voter Rights and Federal Power · Taxes and Budgets · Guns, Prisons, Crime and Immigration