I voted against the health care bill after warning it would be an historic mistake, and I have voted repeatedly to repeal it.
When giving the Republicans’ opening remarks at the health care summit in February 2010, I told President Obama exactly what his health care bill would mean for Americans: “It means there will be about a half trillion dollars of new taxes in it. It means that for millions of Americans, premiums will go up, because when people pay those new taxes, premiums will go up, and they will also go up because of the government mandates.”
Since then, Senate Republicans have promised the American people we’d vote to repeal the health care law and then work to replace it with common-sense reforms that lower health care costs so more Americans can afford to buy health insurance. That goal should have been the whole point of health care reform, yet six months after the bill became law, the Wall Street Journal reported that individuals’ premiums were already going up.
Because the Senate Majority has blocked Republican efforts to repeal the health care law, the wisest course now is to continue working to repeal the law and replace it with immediate insurance reforms and step-by-step reductions in health care costs. For example, we should allow buying insurance across state lines; permit small businesses to join together to offer cheaper insurance to employees; limit junk lawsuits against doctors; reduce waste, fraud and abuse; and expand health savings accounts.
Senators on my side of the aisle repeatedly urged these steps last year, before the bill became law. Now, we should repeal this law and replace it with sensible, thoughtful legislation to reduce your health care costs.
Click here to see more on one of my votes to repeal the law.
Click here to read a Roll Call article that includes my commitment to work to repeal the law.
Click here to read it.
Click here to read more and watch a video.