Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise and Rep. Susan Brooks, (IN-05) introduced the Freeing Americans from Inequitable Requirements Act (FAIR Act), a bill providing the same relief to American families under the President's health care law that President Obama has offered to special interests and corporations. The bill would retroactively suspend the individual mandate penalties until 2016, as has been done to the employer mandate most recently on February 10, 2014.
RSC Chairman Scalise, Rep. Brooks introduce FAIR Act
Suspends Individual Mandate penalties whenever Obama delays Employer Mandate
Washington, D.C. - Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise and Rep. Susan Brooks, (IN-05) introduced the Freeing Americans from Inequitable Requirements Act (FAIR Act), a bill providing the same relief to American families under the President's health care law that President Obama has offered to special interests and corporations. The bill would retroactively suspend the individual mandate penalties until 2016, as has been done to the employer mandate most recently on February 10, 2014.
“President Obama does not have the legal authority to unilaterally rewrite laws that pick winners and losers, but that’s exactly what this Administration has attempted each time it delays the law for a select few,” Scalise said. “Hard-working taxpayers and their families deserve the same relief from the Obamacare train wreck that select corporations are being offered by the White House. President Obama has unilaterally delayed his unworkable and unaffordable health care law at least eighteen times, and it is only fair to simultaneously provide the same relief to the millions of hard-working Americans that he is offering to the politically connected. By repeatedly delaying key components of his signature law, President Obama has acknowledged that his health care law is failing to fulfill the many promises that were made. It’s time for him to let American families off the hook as he’s already done for special interests and corporations.”
“The Affordable Care Act continues to make life harder for Americans struggling to pay their bills and support their families in a tough economy,” Brooks said. “Sadly, President Obama won’t provide individuals the same relief he’s repeatedly given to corporations and special interest groups. At a time when restoring faith in our elected officials and public servants is so vitally important, this is no way to build trust between Americans and the government that serves them. The FAIR Act simply requires the President to fix this sad imbalance created by the failed implementation of his new health care law. If the employer mandate is delayed until 2016 then there’s no good reason for the individual mandate to be in effect right now."
Background:
Over the past year, the Obama Administration, through the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Treasury, has unilaterally delayed or changed the Affordable Care Act at least eighteen times.
On July 2, 2013, the Administration delayed until 2015 the requirement that employers with at least 50 full-time equivalent employees provide health coverage for their full-time workers or risk paying a penalty (the employer mandate).
On February 10, 2014, the Administration once again delayed the employer mandate until 2016 for employers with between 50 and 99 full-time equivalent employees.
H.R. 4064, the FAIR Act, specifically delays the Obamacare individual mandate penalty whenever the employer mandate is delayed.
