Download Dr. Taylor’s testimony in .pdf format here.
SENATE JUDICIARY
SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Testimony of Jameson Taylor, Ph.D.
Director of Research
South Carolina Policy Council
The Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act
I am Dr. Jameson Taylor, Director of Policy with the South Carolina Policy Council. As you may know, the Policy Council is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to safeguarding the rights and liberties of the people of South Carolina.
I want to thank you for inviting me here today and taking time to discuss this important piece of legislation. Specifically, Senate Bill 987, “The Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act,” would protect the rights of the people of South Carolina to sell and purchase health care services. As such, the bill prohibits forcing a person to obtain health coverage; the bill also challenges efforts to impose one form of coverage over another. Toward this end, the measure directs the state attorney general to challenge the constitutionality of any federal legislation, such as the federal health care bill signed into law yesterday, that imposes these restrictions on the purchase of health care services. In effect, passage of the law would facilitate efforts to challenge the constitutionality of federal provisions that violate long-standing constitutional rights as protected under the Commerce Clause, the 10th Amendment and the 14th Amendment. Similar legislation has already passed in two states and been introduced in more than 30 states.