Healthcare should work for patients, not against them. It should be about patient-centered care where families have the option to get the coverage they both want and need without breaking the bank. Instead, high premiums, less choice, and more red tape are just some of the concerns I have consistently heard about the President’s healthcare law from families and businesses in the Sixth District of Virginia.
It’s clear to me that this law is not working to improve the affordability or availability of healthcare in the United States. I opposed the so-called Affordable Care Act from the start, and have voted to repeal the law and various portions of it numerous times. Congress has continued to look for ways to stop the President’s healthcare law and lessen the effects of its mandates. This week, the House of Representatives took a significant step forward in dismantling major pillars of the President’s healthcare law.
Earlier this year, for the first time in over a decade, the House and Senate both approved a 10-year balanced budget plan. This budget plan directed both chambers to begin a process called reconciliation. In the House, the Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce Committees were tasked with making recommendations to reduce the deficit and dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Then the House Budget Committee pieced these recommendations together into one bill, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act.
This legislation, which passed the House with my support, repeals the individual mandate that forces Americans to purchase health insurance or be taxed. It also repeals the costly employer mandate, which has caused many businesses to cut hours or stop hiring new employees altogether. This reconciliation package ends federal funding for abortion providers and, instead, directs that money to community health centers. Additionally, it repeals the medical device tax and the so-called “Cadillac Tax,” which results from consumers being forced to buy more expensive insurance than they otherwise would and then being taxed on it.
To be clear, while this reconciliation bill may not totally repeal the Affordable Care Act, it addresses a number of this Congress’ priorities and gets rid of the most egregious, burdensome provisions at the very center of the President’s healthcare law. Most significantly, this reconciliation bill renders the law inoperable in practice, thus necessitating new legislation built around real, patient-centered reforms. It is also estimated to save $130 billion dollars over the next 10 years.
Even with divided government, this will force the President to choose whether to put patients first or big government mandates. Reconciliation provides for an expedited path through Senate gridlock, getting around the filibuster and requires only a majority to pass. This is our best chance to stop this law in its tracks and work towards real, patient-centered health care solutions for America’s families.
Bob Goodlatte represents the Sixth District of Virginia in Congress.
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