By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Wednesday Congressman Mike Rogers sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) from Nevada, urging him to bring a full repeal vote of the Affordable Care Act to the Senate Floor.
Representative Rogers states in his letter, “As you know, the United States House of Representatives voted in a bi-partisan manner to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act…Without action from the United States Senate to permanently repeal this unworkable law, our constituents will continue to face the uncertainty and very possible negative effects of the Affordable Care Act…Undoubtedly, the Administration will continue to delay implementation of sections of this flawed law thereby further creating more unnecessary confusion for the American people.”
Rep. Rogers said in a written statement that Obamacare is a disaster for our economy and argues it should be repealed fully. Rep. Rogers said, “The American people deserve better and this ‘train wreck’ of a law just keeps getting messier. I strongly urge Senator Reid to consider bringing this vote before the Senate, and debate legislation that will help bring down the cost of health care while improving its quality.”
Rogers serves as Chairman of the Strategic Forces subcommittee on the Armed Services Committee and is a senior member of the Homeland Security and Agriculture committees
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), better known as Obamacare, was a massive rushed omnibus bill that has proven to be unworkable on many levels. First the government funded long term care insurance plan, which was supposed to make money, proved to be so unworkable and so costly that President Obama’s administration completely jettisoned that part of the act.
Next, the mandate that the states expand their Medicaid programs and set up state run healthcare exchanges was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. As many as 21 states may not fully participate in the program shifting all of the longterm costs to the federal government, which is already printing over a $trillion a year in new money to prop up its existing structure. The cost of complying with the regulations has meant climbing insurance premiums for millions of Americans.
Next, President Obama himself postponed the employer mandates portion of the bill until after the 2014 elections. Hobby Lobby won it’s law suit challenging that Obamacare’s abortificient mandate violated the company’s free exercise of religion. Numerous employers are likely to similarly claim the religious liberty of not participating in parts of the Obamacare mandate. Just last week the administration postponed the smoker penalties in the bill. Rather than insuring more Americans, millions could find that it is cheaper to pay the penalty rather than buy costly Obamacare compliant healthcare plans.
Recent polls suggest that as few as 35 percent of Americans still support Obamacare as written.
Congressman Mike Rogers represents Alabama’s Third Congressional District.
