Washington, D.C.—Today, Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, gave an update on his commitment to repeal Obamacare and support Utah’s families and businesses that have been hurt the most by the President’s signature healthcare law.  

Senator Hatch delivered his statement on Obamacare to the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security. A video version of his remarks with the full script appears below.

(Via YouTube)

Obamacare is an unmitigated disaster that has hit Utah’s families and small businesses the hardest. That’s why, since Obamacare’s inception, I have been working tirelessly to repeal the President’s signature healthcare law and replace it with a patient-centered alternative that works for all Utahns.

In the past year alone, Congress has taken critical steps to scale back some of the most damaging aspects of Obamacare. First, we delayed the Cadillac Tax until 2020. Then, we enacted a one-year moratorium on the Health Insurance Tax—a tax that could have a disastrous effect on America’s job creators by increasing average premiums for small businesses by more than $200 dollars per employee. 

Since last July, Obamacare has forced small Utah’s small businesses to pay a special excise tax that affects how they can help employees pay their insurance premiums and medical expenses. Small business owners are rightly upset with this unfair tax because it hurts their bottom lines and destroys their ability to compete. 

I want to help Utah’s employers. That’s why I am working to advance a bill called the Small Business Health Care Relief Act, which would allow small businesses that have 50 employees or fewer to offer Health Reimbursement Accounts to their employees without being subject to taxes. Small businesses play a crucial role in our innovative, growing economy, and they deserve our help.

I will continue fighting to cut costs for small businesses purchasing health insurance coverage, and I invite anyone—Republican or Democrat—to join me in this effort.