Where I Stand on Obamacare

While our healthcare system needs reform, a comprehensive government takeover that will cost almost two trillion dollars and make it more difficult for the average American to afford insurance is not the right choice for our country.  Obamacare implements an unprecedented individual mandate, burdens small businesses with excessive taxes and regulations, and - as the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed - will eliminate 2.5 million full-time jobs at a time when Eastern North Carolinians need jobs and economic growth.

Obamacare's damaging impact on North Carolina became clear with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' release of data in September 2013 on the upcoming cost of health insurance premiums under the law in 2014.  When compared with 2013's pre-Obamacare rates, this data showed that our state would see some of the most dramatic increases in individual-market rates in the nation - with rates increasing by 305 percent for 40-year-old males, 132.5 percent for 27-year-old males, and 51.2 percent for 27-year-old females.  Now, a new comprehensive county-by-county analysis of pre- and post-Obamacare rates has confirmed that North Carolina experienced some of the overall worst rate hikes in the country.   

That's why I voted against Obamacare each time it was considered in the House and have cosponsored every bill aimed at repealing all or part of the law.  Furthermore, I have voted nearly 40 times to repeal, defund, or dismantle this disastrous government takeover.  A complete list of my votes on this topic is included below.  

My Votes Against Obamacare

March 21, 2010 – I voted against the passage of the Obamacare law.

January 19, 2011 – I voted to repeal Obamacare in its entirety. (H.R. 2)

February 19, 2011 – I voted in favor of several substantial bipartisan amendments to the FY 2011 continuing appropriations bill that would severely limit the implementation of Obamacare. (H.R. 1)

• The Rehberg Amendment #575: Prohibited funding for any employee, officer, contractor or grantee of any department or agency funded under Labor & HHS to implement the health care provisions of Obamacare.
• The King Amendment #267: Provided that no funds in this Act may be may be used to implement Obamacare.
• The King Amendment #268: Prohibited funding for the pay of officials who implement Obamacare. 
• The Emerson Amendment #83:  Prohibited funding by the IRS to implement or enforce provisions on Obamacare related to the reporting of health insurance coverage.
• The Price Amendment #409: Prohibited funding for implementing the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) provision.
• The Burgess Amendment #200: Prohibited funding at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO).
• The Pitts Amendment #430: Prohibited funding for actions to specify or define, through regulations, guidelines, or otherwise, essential benefits as required in Obamacare.
• The Gardner Amendment #79: Prohibited funding for implementing Exchanges.
• The Hayworth Amendment #567: Prohibited funding for implementing IPAB.

March 3, 2011 – I voted to repeal 1099 reporting requirements that placed a financial burden on small businesses and independent contractors. This measure was signed into law. (H.R. 4)

April 13, 2011 – I voted to repeal the Prevention and Public Health “slush” Fund that was riddled with wasteful, unaccountable spending. (H.R. 1217)

April 14, 2011 – I voted to repeal the “Free Choice Voucher” program, reduced funding for the CO-OP by $2.2 billion, provided new tools to fight implementation and ensured no increase in IRS funding to hire additional agents to enforce the individual mandate as part of the FY2011 continuing appropriations bill. This measure was signed into law. (H.R. 1473)

May 3, 2011 – I voted to eliminate the ability for Secretary of Health and Human Services to have an unlimited tap on the U.S. Treasury related to government mandated health insurance exchanges. (H.R. 1213)

May 4, 2011 – I voted to repeal the provision that required $200 million of mandatory “slush" fund spending solely for construction for School-Based Health Centers. (H.R. 1214)

May 24, 2011 – I voted to convert $230 million in mandatory spending for graduate medical education programs to discretionary spending, allowing teaching health centers to receive funding through the regular appropriations process with Congressional oversight. (H.R. 1216)

October 13, 2011 – I voted in favor of the Protect Life Act that prevents funds in Obamacare (including tax credits) from being used to pay for abortion or abortion coverage and codifies conscience protections. (H.R. 358)

November, 16 2011 – I voted to require certain benefits to be included in the calculation of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for purposes of determining eligibility for certain health care programs under Obamacare. This measure was signed into law. (H.R. 674)

December 13, 2011 – I voted in favore of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act that extended “doc fix” through Obamacare subsidy recapture and reductions to the Prevention and Public Health “slush” Fund, among other provisions. (H.R. 3630)

February 1, 2012 – I voted to repeal the CLASS Act, a microcosm for the problems in Obamacare (budget gimmick, insolvent, done behind closed doors and rushed into law, massive new unsustainable entitlement), which was used to disguise the short-term costs of the broader bill. (H.R. 1173)

February 17, 2012 – I voted in favor of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act that returned a total of $11.6 billion from Obamacare including $5 billion in cuts to the Prevention & Public Health “slush” Fund and recouping $2.5 billion excess Medicaid funding via the “Louisiana Purchase." This measure was signed into law. (H.R. 3630)

March 22, 2012 – I voted to repeal IPAB, a panel of 15 unelected and unaccountable government bureaucrats tasked with reducing Medicare costs through arbitrary cuts to providers, limiting access to care for seniors. (H.R. 5)

March 29, 2012 – I voted in favor of the FY2013 budget which repeals and defunds Obamacare, ensuring that not a penny is spent on the government takeover of health care. (H.Con.Res.112)

April 27, 2012 – I voted to prevent interest rate increases for certain student loans, offset by repealing the Obamacare Prevention and Public Health “slush” Fund. (H.R. 4628)

June 7, 2012 – I voted to repeal the medical device tax, limitations on reimbursement of the over-the-counter medications from tax-advantaged accounts for health care and the Exchange subsidy overpayments. (H.R. 436)

June 29, 2012 – I voted to further reduce a Medicaid formula drafting error included in Obamacare’s “Louisiana Purchase” provision, clawing back $670 million as part of the Highway Conference bill. This measure was signed into law. (H.R. 4348)

July 11, 2012 – I voted to repeal Obamacare in its entirety in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to uphold the vast majority of the law.

May 16, 2013 – I voted to repeal Obamacare in its entirety as a stand alone bill. (H.R. 45)

July 17, 2013 – I voted in favor of a pair of bills that would delay by one year both the individual and employer mandate included in Obamacare. (H.R. 2667 and H.R. 2668)

August 2, 2013 – I voted in favor of a bill to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from implementing any portion of Obamacare. (H.R. 2009)

September 20, 2013 – I voted in favor of a continuing resolution which included language defunding Obamacare. (H.J. Res. 59)

September 29, 2013 – I voted in favor of an amendment to the Senate-passed continuing resolution that would delay the implementation of Obamacare by one year and permanently repeal the law’s medical device tax. 

Nov 15, 2013 – I voted in favor of a bill to allow insurers to continue to offer plans that were cancelled because they did not meet the onerous minimum standards of Obamacare. (H.R. 3350)

January 10, 2013 – I voted to require the federal government to notify individuals whose personal information was breached on Obamacare’s website, healthcare.gov. (H.R. 3811)

March 5, 2014 – I voted in favor of a one-year delay of Obamacare‘s individual mandate. (H.R. 4118)

March 11, 2014 – I voted in favor of a bill which would allow employers to exempt any workers with health coverage under TRICARE from being taken into account as part of the law's employer mandate, thus providing further incentive to hire our nation’s military heroes. (H.R. 3474)

March 11, 2014 – I voted to ensure that volunteer firefighters are not counted as employees under the law's "shared responsibility requirements." (H.R. 3979)

March 12, 2014—I voted in favor of legislation to provide important religious exemptions from Obamacare. (H.R. 1814)

January 6, 2015 - I voted in favor of the Hire More Heroes Act, which would exempt businesses from counting veteran workers toward their 50-worker threshold, at which point they would have to provide insurance under Obamacare. (H.R. 22)

February 3, 2015 - I voted in favor of a complete repeal of Obamacare along with instructions for relevant committees to replace the law with new policies. (H.R. 596)

June 23, 2015 - I voted in favor in the Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act, which would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), Obamacare's de facto rationing board (H.R. 1190)