The healthcare takeover is coming to Pennsylvania and you need to know how this is going to effect your ability to take care of your and your family's health. In 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gave Governor Tom Corbett and the State of Pennsylvania $17.1 million dollars to study, plan and implement a Health Care Exchange. This is one of the Healthcare Takeovers many arms reaching into our state to limit our access to good healthcare.

What's an exchange? In theory, an exchange is a market-based mechanism giving consumers a simple, transparent and innovative way to purchase health insurance. The Exchanges as created by the President and HHS, however, are far from simple, transparent or innovative.

Federal HHS is trying to bait states into setting up Exchanges by claiming states will have flexibility, but the hundreds of pages of rules and restrictions eliminate any true measure of independence or flexibility. Exchanges first must be approved by HHS based on rules they alone establish and afterwards any changes must receive HHS’s stamp of approval giving the Federal Government tremendous power to control Pennsylvanian’s insurance.

Creating an Exchange makes Pennsylvania nothing more than the bureaucratic arm of the Federal Government. Pennsylvania only received a grant because it actively applied through a lengthy and detailed grant process. Governor Corbett has even gone a step further and created the Pennsylvania eHealth Collaborative.

It's time to stop the madness and stop the Obama Healthcare Takeover Exchanges from coming to our state! Please join Americans for Prosperity and urge Governor Corbett to return these funds to HHS and instead refuse to implement this bureaucratic “government-knows-best” approach to health care purchases.