6 Lawmakers Promise to Reject Obamacare Legislation That Doesn’t Repeal as Much as 2015 Bill Did
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Six lawmakers have come out stating that they will not support any measure that does not repeal as much of Obamacare as previous legislation did, stating that the language of a 2015 bill passed by both chambers should be “the bare minimum.”
“[Two years] ago, [the] GOP Congress voted to repeal #Obamacare,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, tweeted Monday night. “That 2015 repeal language should be the minimum.”
Other lawmakers who are calling for 2015 language to be the “bare minimum” for any Obamacare repeal legislation include Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C.; Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C.
2 yrs ago, GOP Congress voted to repeal #Obamacare. That 2015 repeal language should be the minimum. #FullRepeal @SenTedCruz @SenRandPauI
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) February 28, 2017
The 2015 reconciliation bill that was passed by Congress but vetoed by President Barack Obama includes repeal of key Obamacare provisions, including funding for Medicaid expansion and almost all of Obamacare’s tax increases, according to Alyene Senger, formerly a health care policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation.
The 2015 bill also repealed the individual and employer mandates, tax credits, and defunded Planned Parenthood.
>>>In Repealing Obamacare, Congress Should Look to the 2015 Reconciliation Bill
The lawmakers say that they were elected to Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare, and that they should follow through on that mandate from their constituents.
“Congress must keep its word,” Paul said in a statement released Tuesday morning. “We were elected to fully repeal and replace Obamacare, and that’s the only thing I will vote for. The legislation brought to the Senate floor must at least match the standard set by the 2015 repeal bill that both chambers of Congress passed.”
2 yrs ago, the GOP Congress voted to repeal Obamacare. That 2015 repeal language should be the floor, the bare minimum. #FullRepeal
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 28, 2017
Cruz joined his fellow senators:
2 yrs ago, GOP Congress voted to repeal #Obamacare. That 2015 repeal language should be the minimum. #FullRepeal @SenMikeLee @SenRandPauI
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 28, 2017
“Right now, [Americans] may have insurance, but they can’t afford it,” Jordan said Tuesday morning in an interview with “Fox & Friends.”
Thanks @foxandfriends for having me on this morning to talk #Obamacarerepeal https://t.co/klMO1YYyI9
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 28, 2017
“They can’t afford the deductibles, they can’t afford the premiums,” Jordan said, adding:
We are saying, ‘Let’s repeal it, let’s put the same legislation on President [Donald] Trump’s desk that we put on President Obama’s desk, and then let’s replace Obamacare with a patient-centered, family-centered, doctor-centered plan,’ not what we have currently, which is Washington in control.
Meadows said he supports the efforts of his colleagues for repeal, tweeting Monday that “every tax, every mandate, every regulation of #Obamacare needs to go.”
Walker, who also serves as the chair of the Republican Study Committee, said he would not support a draft of an Obamacare repeal bill leaked last week. He said it is simply another “entitlement with a Republican stamp on it.”
“The bill contains what increasingly appears to be a new health insurance entitlement with a Republican stamp on it,” Walker said. “In that form and absent of substantial changes, I cannot vote for the bill, and, in good conscience, cannot recommend RSC members to vote for it either.”