Monday, January 31, 2011

Monday Quick Hits: Hot Policy Topics for This Week

This week kicks off the first full schedule of meetings at the NC General Assembly. So far not much in announced committee meetings but there will be a press conference today at 3:00 PM.

Here is the scoop on the press conference. As we reported earlier, House Republicans held a Judiciary meeting on Thursday to pass HB 2. This bill will require Attorney General Roy Cooper to put North Carolina into the lawsuit against the federal government and their requirement that all people must have health insurance, better known as the individual mandate.

There are a couple of reasons why this press conference and the bill are being tracked by The Arc of NC. First the bill, during a time when we are looking at a $3.7 billion deficit in the state budget, is the cost of litigating the federal Affordable Care Act advisable? Second, the individual mandate gives people with disabilities more access to affordable health care insurance. It does this by removing the pre-existing condition clauses, permits kids up to age 26 to remain on their parents insurance and it also stops insurance companies by ending benefits in the case of serious illness.

The press conference today will be lead by Representative Joe Hackney (D-Orange) minority leader of the House.

Here is the bill: HB 2 Protect Health Care Freedom.

No comments: