1.  Lawmakers Push for Ban on Mandatory Health Insurance

Politicians in 10 states have introduced measures that would ban mandatory health insurance, and officials in four more states plan to follow suit. While lawmakers acknowledge the move is likely to fail, the efforts are seen as largely symbolic for politicians who oppose the broad sweep of government reform. "All I'm trying to do is protect the individual's right to make health care decisions," Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer told reporters. In Arizona, the amendment has been placed on the ballots and will be voted on in 2010. In spite of the movement's growing popularity, constitutional lawyers have questioned the ban's legality. "States can no more nullify a federal law like this than they could nullify the civil rights laws by adopting constitutional amendments," health law expert Timothy Stoltzfus Jost told the NYT.

Read original story in The New York Times | Monday, Sept. 28, 2009