Idaho health care executive order

Over the past year, when I hear the word “Healthcare,” the next words that come to mind are: “Rising premiums,” “increasing deductable,” “300 percent price increase for the same service,” “loss of choice” and “no cross-state competition to keep prices down.”

And yes, these are real examples I’ve heard from multiple area residents. As the situation has played out, it’s become apparent that moving forward, the Affordable Care Act will compete for the moniker “Best Example of the Federal Government’s Assault On States’ Rights and Individual Liberty.” The entire fiasco continues to serve as a neon warning beacon, calling to mind the concept the historians and philosophers call “the eternal arrogance of the present.”

I’m proud to see my state of Idaho take the lead in chipping away at this catastrophe of central planning hubris. Last week, our Lt. Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order freeing us from the Obamacare mandate. I was pleased to see the reference in the order to “the overreaching, intrusive nature of Obamacare and its infringement on Idahoans’ freedoms,” and I applaud Mr. Little for fighting back against Washington, D.C.

Craig Smith

Hayden Lake, Idaho