Schilling Statement on the Supreme Court’s Health Care Ruling
“Illinoisans deserve policies that reduce the cost of care and improve its quality without increasing taxes”
Washington,
Jun 28 -
Washington, DC – Congressman Bobby Schilling (IL-17) released the following statement after the Supreme Court announced its ruling to uphold the President’s health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in its entirety, ruling that its individual mandate is a tax:
“Like many folks throughout Illinois’ 17th Congressional District I’m disappointed by today’s ruling, but the fact is that the President’s health care law will cost trillions of dollars while doing absolutely nothing to address the rising cost of health care,” Schilling said. “The opportunity remains for folks in Washington to come together in support of policies that address the rising cost of health care and put patients and their doctors back in charge of health care decisions, without this tax. I will continue working to roll back the harmful parts of this law so we can get health care reform done right. We can start over and in a transparent fashion work to enact bipartisan, step-by-step reforms that guarantee folks in Illinois and throughout the country are able to access health care that is affordable, convenient, and high quality.”
Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, health insurance premiums continued to rise. President Obama once promised that premiums would fall by an average of $2,500, but they have already risen by $2,213 during his administration. Despite its major provisions not taking full effect until 2014, it has been estimated that the President’s health care reform law has already added more than 12,000 pages of regulations and Federal Register notices. It also creates as many as 159 new commissions, boards, and programs.
The Administration argued repeatedly as it was working to advance the President’s health care reform law that its individual mandate (which required nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance) was permissible under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, and that it wasn’t a tax. The Supreme Court ruled today, however, that the penalty a person must pay if they refuse to purchase health insurance is a tax that Congress can impose using its tax authority. Under this ruling, the individual mandate survives as a tax, now leaving Americans with the choice between paying either higher insurance premiums or a massive tax.
The House of Representatives has voted 30 times over the last year and a half on various proposals to repeal, defund, or dismantle the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Furthermore, five pieces of the law have been repealed or had their funding rescinded. Click here to view Schilling’s plan for quality, convenient, patient-centered, and truly affordable health care.
“True health care reform shouldn’t raid Medicare, ignore the skyrocketing costs of care, limit the private sector’s ability to grow jobs, and put unelected bureaucrats between patients and their doctors,” Schilling said. “The time is now to work together and advance policies to save Medicare for our kids and grandkids, make care more affordable, provide the private sector with the confidence necessary to hire our unemployed friends and family, and put patients and doctors back in charge of their health care decisions.”
|