Virginia Passes Health Care Freedom Act

The Virginia House of Representatives passed SB 417, sending it on to Gov. McDonnell, who is expected to sign it.  The legislation would state, in defiance of health care bills before Congress, that:

No resident of this Commonwealth, … shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage.

Similar legislation has been introduced in many states, including both a statute (HB 2053)  and constitutional amendment (HB 2179) in Pennsylvania.  For more on those proposals, see a recent PolicyBlog post, and a story on a Capitol rally from PA Independent.