Cheap health insurance in Ohio? Vote no to Issue 3
November 19th, 2011 | 
Author: Somewhere in the distant past, people noticed a trend suggesting Ohio was a type of weathervane for political purposes. It became part of the mythology that a presidential candidate will lose unless he carries Ohio. Perhaps, surprisingly, this is still considered “true” even through John F Kennedy lost Ohio in 1960 yet still became president. In many ways people simply remember the facts that fit so they can continue to say, “as Ohio goes, so goes the nation”. Anyway, no matter what the truth of the matter, the Tea Party has been collecting signatures for a year to ensure Issue 3 gets on to the voting slips this next election. Simply, the aim of this electoral gesture is to block the state from adopting the Affordable Care Act – to be precise, the Obamacare mandate. The Tea Party want it clear Ohio will reject a federal statute as unconstitutional and take no action to enforce the mandate as and when it becomes law. For the record, Ohio is one of the twenty-six states currently fighting the Affordable Care Act. The results of this litigation are expected next year although the Supreme Court works to its own timetable. There’s no indication whether the decision will be available before next year’s election.
In the last paragraph Issue 3 was described as a gesture. It wants to use the ballot box to prevent Ohio from going down the same road as Massachusetts. Although quite what’s wrong with the health care mandate in Massachusetts is not clear. It should be said the resulting level of health care provision is very popular with those who actually live there. However, the Ohioan supporters of Issue 3 are taking a strictly libertarian approach. They want to assert their rights as citizens to ignore the law of the land. And that’s where all the problems really start.
Our great country is one nation made up of sovereign states. Except the sovereignty is not absolute. In many areas of our lives, federal law prevails. The test, of course, is whether each federal law is constitutional. That’s where the Supreme Court comes in. Should it decide the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional by imposing a mandate, no state in the union will be obliged to apply it. But if the Supreme Court decides this Act is a proper use of the law to regulate interstate commerce, every state will be obliged to apply it. That states have some degree of sovereignty does not give states freedom to decide which laws they will or will not apply. It’s all or nothing in this system.
So no matter what happens in the ballot, Ohio will not be free to do as it wishes but, as a piece of political theater, it could have quite important implications. This will be the first time the people have been given a formal chance to express an opinion on the merits of the Affordable Care Act. It will carry far more weight than surveys. Should the vote be against the mandate, it will be used by the GOP to argue all reform of health insurance should be stopped. Should this view prevail, there can be no more cheap health insurance. The premium rates will only fall if everyone is obliged to buy a plan.
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