As the Florida Legislature decides how to implement the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, lawmakers Monday heard from passionate opponents of the law.
The Legislature must decide whether to create and run the state's own health care exchange, from which individual Floridians may purchase health insurance, or to let the federal government do it.When lawmakers opened the floor to public comment on Monday, attorney Kris Anne Hall said the law is unconstitutional and citizens won't accept it.
"As you are considering what you’re going to do, a primary consideration will be, How will we deal with the fallout of our citizens, both lawfully and constitutionally saying, 'We will not comply'?"
The audience booed state Senator Chris Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat, when he said the Constitution had been corrected throughout its lifetime.
He pointed to slavery and the Jim Crow era.
"The federal government had to step in because our Constitution is an imperfect document", said Smith.
No member of the public defended the health care law to the committee. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law to be constitutional in June.