By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Friday, H.R. 3350, the Keep Your Health Plan Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support. The bill would allow Americans who want to keep their non-Affordable Care Act insurance to keep their plans.
Congressman Mike Rogers (R) from Saks joined the other four Republicans in Alabama’s Congressional Delegation voted for the Keep Your Health Plan Act.
Rogers said, “This legislation, introduced by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), would allow health care plans on the individual market to remain available so people could have the option to keep their current health care plans.” “Although this bill would help in the short term, there is no substitute for getting rid of Obamacare altogether.”
Congresswoman Martha Roby (R) from Montgomery said in a written statement “Today the House acted in a bipartisan way to protect hard-working Americans from unfair rate hikes and plan cancellations. The President made a promise to the American people, and now the House of Representatives has moved to provide legislative reassurance that if Americans like their health care plans, they will truly be able to keep them.”
Representative Mo Brooks (R) from Huntsville said,
“President Obama promised Americans that ‘Yes We Can’ keep our health insurance when, in fact, the President meant ‘No We Can’t.’ It’s been one month since the Affordable Care Act opened for enrollment, and, contrary to the President’s false promise, millions of Americans’ health plans have been canceled, thus putting hard-working American family finances, health care, and lives at risk. I cosponsored the Keep Your Health Plan Act to guarantee that those enrolled in a health plan as of January 1, 2013, may remain enrolled on that plan regardless of Obamacare mandates. Hopefully, President Obama will stop blocking health insurance providers from providing affordable health care and insurance that has served so many Americans so well for so long. It is time for Big Brother to step aside and let Americans have the freedom to control their own fate.”
Rep. Roby said, “This is an issue on which many Republicans and Democrats can find common ground. The ‘Keep Your Health Plan Act’ won’t fix every problem with ObamaCare, but it will offer real choices and peace of mind to Americans affected by these changes. Similar legislation also has broad bipartisan support in the Senate, and I urge Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring the bill forward for a vote right away.”
The Republican members of Alabama’s congressional delegation have been highly critical of President Barack Obama’s controversial healthcare reform proposal.
Rep. Rogers said in his monthly column,
“America is over six weeks in to the Obamacare rollout, and things are still a mess. People are still having problems signing up, but even more painful are the letters folks are receiving about the changes to their current health care plans. Every day we are hearing more and more about people’s current health care plans being dropped completely. Because of this, families and individuals are now being forced into different and often times much more expensive health care plans….Many folks across East Alabama may have to make the tough decision to forego their health insurance because of unforeseen increases in the cost of their health care premiums and deductibles. Yet under Obamacare, folks are required to purchase health insurance by March of 2014 to avoid paying a penalty. They just cannot afford any of it.”
Rep. Brooks said, “With respect to health insurance policies that have been canceled because of the President’s healthcare law, I urge President Obama to change his mantra from ‘No We Can’t’, to ‘Yes We Can’ keep our health care and health insurance. The Keep Your Health Plan Act does exactly that. Congress should, and must, force the President to keep his promises. Quite frankly, hardworking Americans deserve no less.”
The website to sign up for Obamacare, Healthcare.gov, still is not working. Millions of Americans have lost their coverage and millions more will when the employer mandate goes into effect this time next year. Some estimates claim that as many as 90 million Americans will be forced off of their current coverage as more of the Affordable Care Act goes into effect.
Americans are losing their coverage due to Obamacare legislating their old coverage out of existence or their employer moving them to part time to avoid the high cost of insuring full time employees. Many are finding that they either can’t afford the costly new healthcare insurance if and when the President is finally able to get his website to even accept their application.
Even though President Obama promised all Americans that if they like their healthcare insurance they could keep it when he was promoting the legislation,
President Obama has vowed to veto the bill if it is passed by the Senate.
