State legislators decry their exclusion from health reform summit

State sponsors of the nationwide effort to block a government requirement to purchase health insurance today sent a letter to President Obama decrying their exclusion from tomorrow's bipartisan health reform summit.

The letter commends the president for his efforts at bipartisanship but also says "we think you're missing a critical element in this discussion -- the ideas of thousands of state legislators." The signers are the sponsors of the Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act, model legislation by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation's largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators.

Today, 36 states have introduced the ALEC model to protect patients' rights to pay directly for medical care, and to prohibit the government from forcing individuals to purchase government-approved health insurance.  The measure has already passed with bipartisan support in houses of the Idaho, Virginia and Tennessee legislatures, and will appear as a ballot question before Arizona voters in November.  In other states, the initiative is quickly moving through various legislative committees.

State legislators across the country continue to express concern about what effect any federal legislation will have on stets efforts to implement their own health care reforms and especially

what affect a proposed individual or employer mandate will have on their citizens and small businesses.

The signers pledged to "pursue our own initiatives -- not only to protect health care freedom, but to also increase access to quality, affordable health insurance; reduce health costs; and improve the quality of care," according to the letter.