Facebook icon
Twitter icon
YouTube icon
RSS icon

Congressman George Holding

Representing the 13th District of North Carolina

Holding: Solutions needed on Obamacare

Nov 8, 2013
In The News

FREMONT — U.S. Rep. George Holding talked of a broken political system in Washington and his interest in delaying Obamacare during a visit to Fremont this week.

Holding, R-N.C., sees more and more previous supporters of the Affordable Care Act raising concerns after the health care rollout has been riddled with website malfunctions, increased premiums due to federal coverage requirements and many who are facing cancelled policies.

A change in political views, Holding believes, may lead to a delay in the program during the upcoming year.

"The bill was hastily passed,” Holding said during an interview before the grand opening of his Fremont-based congressional office. "It was jammed through Congress with no bipartisan support, no Republican voted for it. It’s the only bill in the history of America of that magnitude — it’s 16 percent of the whole economy — that’s ever been passed without any bipartisan support.”

Problems with the health care rollout prompted President Obama to apologize Thursday to Americans who are losing health insurance plans he had repeatedly said they could keep.

"As we’re seeing, as it’s unfolding, there’s just a lot of unintended consequences about the law,” Holding said. "Now, you see a lot of people who have previously supported Obamacare coming out and saying, ‘we’ve got to delay this.’ There are 14 or 16 U.S. Senators who had previously supported it are coming out now and saying that this needs to be delayed.”

Holding plans to support a bill, the Keep Your Healthcare Plan Act of 2013, that is expected to be introduced Tuesday. The bill would allow health care plans available today on the individual market to continue to be offered so Americans have the option to keep what they have if they like it. The bill also ensures that Americans maintaining their health care plan would not face a penalty under the Affordable Care Act. Holding believes there will be bipartisan support for the bill.

"This would allow you to keep your plan if you like it,” Holding said. "It would do away with all the requirements of the government telling you what your plan has to have in it. I would imagine that we would get a lot of votes from folks that had previously supported Obamacare because now they’re finding out what’s in it and they’re finding out how it really works.”

Holding said that the Health Insurance Marketplace website, at www.healthcare.gov, was originally under contract at a $93 million cost that has increased to $658 million because of its problems.

"This is a debacle,” Holding said.

Obama, during an interview with NBC News Thursday, committed to working to fix the problems Americans are facing with health care plans.

"I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me,” Obama said. "When you’ve got a health care rollout that is as important to the country and to me as this is and it doesn’t work like a charm, that’s my fault.”

Obama’s statements Thursday are focused on the Obama Administration finding solutions instead of legislative options proposed by congressional lawmakers, officials said.

Holding said the new health care plans, under the Affordable Care Act, have left hospitals and doctors uncertain about providing care because of unanswered questions. Even though Republicans have repeatedly tried to stall or repeal the health care law, many still intend to seek solutions, he said.

Holding said that Republicans have enough support in the House to seek a delay and there is an increasing interest in the Senate to find ways to resolve many of the problems and uncertainty Americans are facing. Holding doesn’t see a repeal of the law during Obama’s presidency.

"There’s no easy answer,” Holding said. "People are facing a very, very difficult situation. I would think there is more likely than not that there would be, at least, a delay during the next year. We’re going to have a lot of people who will support a delay.”

Holding also said that he is committed to finding ways to reduce the national debt.

"My emphasis overall is the government spends too much money and we have too much debt,” he said. "We borrow 40 cents out of every dollar that we spend. We’ve got $17 trillion dollars in debt and we need to get on a pathway of a balanced budget and paying off that debt.”

Holding spoke of the nation’s debt during the grand opening of his congressional office in Fremont. Elected leaders from Fremont and Wayne County attended the event at the Fremont Town Hall where Holding’s office is open to the public on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The office serves residents living in Wilson and Wayne counties.

"Things in Washington are mightily broken,” Holding said. "We need to do a better job in Washington to get spending under control. We’re going to be able to turn things around in this country in six to eight years or we’re not.”

Still, Holding said he is committed to serving the needs of constituents within the 13th District. He encouraged political leaders to send residents to the office if they have any need that Holding or his staff can address.

"Everyone in this room is a community leader,” Holding said. "You’re going to have people that come to you and ask you for help and if there’s an area where you think that I can be helpful to folks, send them over here and we’ll be glad to help them in any way we can help.”

He also encouraged residents to remain involved in the community.

"It’s important for us to be engaged in civic life and in public service because it is a critical time in our nation,” he said. "It’s a critical opportunity we have to make a big difference.”