Legislation introduced in House and Senate requires one-year delay of employer mandate if CMS or GAO study finds negative impact on jobs or premiums
WASHINGTON, May 22 –Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Representatives Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) and Diane Black (R-Tenn.) today introduced legislation to protect small businesses from Obamacare’s job-killing mandate to provide employees government-approved health insurance or pay a fine.
Fincher said: "Across the 8th District, I've heard from working class men and women who are struggling to make ends meet as their health care premiums have sky-rocketed under Obamacare. This study will prove how Obamacare is impacting American’s health care costs and stifling small business job creation."
Black said: “When I travel throughout my district, the number one concern for my constituents continues to be jobs and the economy. That is why it is such a top priority for us in Congress to work where we can to reduce the burdens government is placing on employers so that they can put Americans back to work. This is especially problematic with the costly mandates and fines contained in Obamacare. The President and Congressional Democrats should welcome any effort to help Americans get back to work, which is just what the Certify It Act aims to do.”
The Certify It Act, introduced in both the House and Senate, requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Actuary to work with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on annual studies to assess the impact Obamacare will have on small business health insurance premiums and jobs. If their studies find that the healthcare law is having a negative impact on either, the Certify It Act delays the employer mandate for the following year.
My Comment: This bill is the smart way to fight Obamacare until Republicans can gain control of the machinery of government and repeal and replace it. President Obama himself, with no authority to do so, delayed the employer mandate by a year, to 2015, and gave companies with between 50 and 99 employees another year’s grace period after that. Does anyone besides me think that was a calculated move on the part of Obama to delay the ill effects of Obamacare and anticipated voter revenge until after the mid-term election? This proposal by Alexander, Fincher and Black seems like a reasonable proposal that Democrats, not blinded by Obama loyalty and ideology, could support. If Democrats really believe Obamacare will not have a negative impact on insurance premiums or jobs, then why would that not support it? It will probably pass the House and die in Harry Reid's Senate, however.
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aka ObamaCare is working and people’s lives are getting better. Most right wing attacks on the ACA have been antidotal. In spite of the right-wing there have been no job loss, no companies have folded because of the ACA. There are no expiations that prices on premiums will increase, in fact there is a possibility that the ACA will lower premiums.
ReplyDeleteIn 1937 Social Security was rolled out by FDR and it took over 5 years to get the program to work properly. LBJ in 1965 started Medicare and again problems lasted for about 4/5 years. In 2008 Medicare Part D under Bush had a lot of problems for about 1 ½ years. FDR, LBJ, and Bush changed rollout times, made small changes to the program all without Congressional approval.
Despite what the right wing has stated there have been NO job losses. For companies who have over 50 people, the ACA doesn’t start until 2015. In fact about 174,000 jobs were created. No one has died after signing up, in fact there are recorded cases the ACA has saved lives. In the US about 47,000 people were dying a year because they don’t have health care insurance or pre-existing health problems. Those numbers are decreasing because of the ACA.
For the people who are now paying more for Insurance and can’t pay, is again antidotal. The ACA insurance rate is based on income and I have seen and heard people state that they are paying less than $50 a month for their family coverage.
The “Alexander, Fincher, Black; Bill to Evaluate Impact of Obamacare on Small Businesses” will never leave the Republican held House. The reason is that the non-tea party Republicans knows that the ACA is working and that this is an election year and they don’t want to have a report to support their argument or give Hillary more ammunition.