A ballot initiative in Arizona would preserve citizens’ rights to make their own choices about where, how, and from whom they receive their health care. “The Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act” is being proposed by “Medical Choice for Arizona,” a newly formed group of liberty-minded physicians and others who are concerned about the trend toward single-payer health care.
Dr. Eric Novack, the group’s chairman, says that approximately 71 percent of Arizona voters surveyed would vote for an amendment to ensure their right to choose whether or not to be included in a government-run or -mandated health-care system. Support increased to nearly 80 percent after arguments were presented for and against the initiative, according to a survey conducted in June 2007 among 500 likely Arizona voters.
Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a Phoenix surgeon, told the Arizona Republic that “[The Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act] would be a dose of preventive medicine to preserve patients' choice in health coverage.” The newspaper notes that two other groups in Arizona are exploring 2008 ballot initiatives that would take a very different approach, namely, universal coverage. “These ideas are floating around and they make me scared,” said Singer. “What if we get into some kind of program we can't get out of, where there’s no way out?"
Singer told the Arizona Republic that he has no prescription for the nation's health-care policy other than the ballot measure's stated intent to enshrine in the state Constitution the freedom to choose private health-care systems or private plans of any type. “Don't take our freedoms away,” Singer stressed. “We're neutral on everything else.”
The full text of the initiative reads:
“Because all people should have the right to make decisions about their health care, no law shall be passed that restricts a person's freedom of choice in private health care systems or private plans of any type. No law shall interfere with a person's or entity's right to pay directly for lawful medical services, nor shall any law impose a penalty or fine, of any type, for choosing to obtain or decline health care coverage or for participation in any particular health care system or plan.”
Medical Choice for Arizona needs 230,047 voter signatures by July 3 to qualify the initiative for the November 2008 ballot.
Sources: