The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
This amendment was passed in the wake of the Civil War. Slavery was to be a thing of the past.
The North Carolina Constitution, Article I, Section 17 also prohibits involuntary servitude.
The North Carolina Senate GOP, however, has other ideas. A bill has been introduced to address the phenomenon of out-of-network charges in the health care environment. It attempts to deal with the phenomenon of physicians who do not have a contract with certain insurance companies. If these physicians see patients insured by plans with which they do not participate, they would be required to accept a certain fee determined by the state. They would not be free to set their own fee.
This is involuntary servitude. The physician is often required to see the patient because of certain obligations. He or she has no choice in many instances. The state then tells this physician he must accept a certain fee even though there is no contract.
The Senate GOP is attempting to solve a problem that irks some health care consumers. And the patient is typically in no position to "shop around" when in the hospital environment. But the solution they propose steps way over the line. It is a statement that the patient has a right to the physician's service at a predetermined fee even though it is otherwise a private transaction. And it seems to affect many services provided outside of the hospital environment.
This is statism. It is socialism. And it is being pushed by Republicans.
Among the GOP senators who have no problem with involuntary servitude are Ralph Hise, Joyce Krawiec and Rick Gunn. Krawiec represents part of Forsyth County; and Gunn represents part of Alamance and Guilford Counties. These three are among those sponsoring or co-sponsoring the legislation.
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