Sept. 29: The Hill: GOP Lawmakers call ACA anything but Affordable
In floor speeches, TV interviews and town halls, Republicans often refer to President Obama’s signature healthcare law either as “ObamaCare” or a healthcare “bill” — subtly implying that it’s not truly permanent. “The bill is named after the president. Why wouldn't the president want to be under the bill?” Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) asked in a floor speech earlier this month, making the case that the president should get his healthcare through ObamaCare.
Conservatives in the Senate repeatedly called the law a bill last week as they tried to push their colleagues to embrace the possibility of a government shutdown over ObamaCare. “The very people that this bill is supposed to be helping … are the people it is directly hurting,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said during the 21-hour talk-a-thon led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Sen. Rand Paul struck a similar note. “Really, there are a host of problems and this bill does nothing to control costs,” he said, later adding “ObamaCare is 100 percent the president's bill.”
Sept. 29: The Hill: Senator Kaine (D-VA) says Senate likely to pass military funding bill even if CR is not adopted:
The Senate on Monday is likely to pass a military funding bill to ensure that U.S. troops will be paid in case the government shuts down, a Democratic senator said. Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday that "in all likelihood" the Senate would approve the measure when the upper chamber returns on Monday afternoon.
Kaine also noted that the Senate "will act" on the revamped, House-passed bill to avoid a government shutdown that includes provisions to delay the implementation of the president's healthcare law and repeals a tax on medical devices. If the Congress fails to send a funding bill to the president by Tuesday, then the government would shut down - at least temporarily - until an agreement could be reached. The House wanted to ensure that the troops would continue to receive payments in the instance that such a shutdown occurs.
Sept. 29: The Hill: Barrasso: “Duct tape and chicken wire” are holding ObamaCare exchanges together:
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) on Sunday said that ObamaCare insurance exchanges set to go live this week “are being held together right now with duct tape and chicken wire.” The physician said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that consumers are in for a case of sticker shock, adding that Americans will have difficulty finding a doctor to care for them.
“The president made a couple of promises. One with the exchanges, and he said it would be cheaper than a cell phone bill. And I don't expect a lot of people to be able to find something less than $71 a month on the exchanges,” he said.
“People are going to be paying more. And he said … if you have your doctor and you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. We're seeing all across the country exchanges that trying to get the price down have had to exclude many doctors.” Barrasso rattled off a list of states with exchange problems, including Vermont, Oregon and the District of Columbia. “This law is unworkable. It's unpopular. It is unaffordable for us as a nation. It's hurting jobs. It's hurting the economy. And now, what I'm hearing and I was at a health fair in Wyoming yesterday, it is unfair,” Barrasso said. “Someone said to me why is it that the president is going to give my boss a one-year delay? The bosses are getting a delay, but the workers are not. And we need a delay in the individual mandate.”
Senators on Monday are expected to consider a stopgap spending bill approved by the House early Sunday that delays ObamaCare for one year.
Sept. 28: The Daily Caller:
Kiss your present healthcare plan goodbye – 10 states where ObamaCare wipes out existing health plans:
President Obama famously promised, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” He later got even more specific. “If you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have,” Obama said. But as Obamacare’s rollout approaches, we have learned this is not true. Here are the ten states where consumers may like their health care plans, but they won’t be able to keep them, partly because private health insurance providers are pulling out of the ObamaCare exchanges due to financial considerations and the associated red tape caused by participating in these exchanges:
1) California: 58,000 will lose their plans under Obamacare.
2) Missouri: Patients of the state’s largest hospital system — which spans 13 hospitals won’t be able to see any doctors in that system.
3) Connecticut: Aetna, the third largest insurer in the nation, won’t offer insurance on the Obamacare exchange in its own home state.
4) Maryland: 13,000 covered by Aetna and its recently-purchased Coventry Health Care won’t be able to keep their insurance plans if they want Obamacare subsidies on the exchanges.
5) South Carolina: 28,000 were insured by Medical Mutual of Ohio until it decided to leave the state entirely
6) New York: Aetna pulled out of New York’s exchange in late August
7) New Jersey: 1.1 million Aetna customers are at risk
8) Iowa: Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Iowa’s largest health insurer, decided not to offer plans in the Obamacare exchange.
9) Wisconsin: Two of the three largest insurers in the state won’t offer plans on the exchange.
10) Georgia: Just five insurers are participating in Georgia’s Obamacare exchange.
Sept. 27: Politico: Straight Party Vote with two Republicans not voting sends Continuing Resolution back to the House.
With the House GOP leadership seemingly rejecting the Ted Cruz alternative strategy of passing individual continuing resolutions and not passing or approving any that would fund ObamaCare, it is anybody’s guess what the House will finally decide to do. The battle over averting an Oct. 1 government shutdown is back where it all started: The House. The Senate took a series of votes Friday to alter the House’s first stab at a government spending bill, agreeing 54-44 to strip out language defunding Obamacare and changing the legislation’s expiration date to Nov. 15. The bill cleared the chamber by the same margin on final passage – a straight party vote with two GOP Senators not voting.
Shortly after 4 p.m., the Senate then adjourned until 2 p.m. on Monday, with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) attempting to put the weight of the shutdown fight entirely on House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). If the lower chamber alters the Senate-passed bill to re-insert controversial Obamacare language, the Senate won’t have time to respond, significantly elevating the prospects of a shutdown. “If Speaker Boehner wants to avoid a government shutdown, he will pass our resolution. Otherwise, it’s a government shutdown,” Reid said after President Barack Obama appeared on national television to criticize the “shenanigans” of House Republicans.
Sept. 27: The Hill:
The Senate approves full funding of ObamaCare while also keeping the government operating:
The Senate voted along party lines Friday to pass a stopgap spending measure lasting until Nov. 15 after removing controversial language to defund ObamaCare. The 54-44 vote puts the Senate on a collision course with the House, where Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has said the stripped-down bill will not reach the floor. House conservatives on Friday rallied around a proposal to attach a one-year delay of the healthcare law and send it back to the Senate. Senate Democrats say this will be rejected and result in a government shutdown. If Congress does not resolve the impasse by Tuesday, funding will expire and many government services will be limited.
Sept. 26: Roll Call:
Senator Grassley Frustrated over the fight on his healthcare amendment:
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, said Thursday he is frustrated by the continuing battle over health benefits for members of Congress and their staff, which he attributes to a drafting mistake in the Affordable Care Act by Democrats. Grassley sponsored the original amendment requiring lawmakers and staffers to enter the Obamacare exchanges, but he didn’t intend for them to lose the employer subsidy. “It is frustrating, but it’s most frustrating because if they had let those of us who knew anything about health care draft this amendment, we wouldn’t have this controversy,” Grassley said. Grassley said staff for Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, did not properly draft the statutory language for his amendment, omitting language that would have allowed lawmakers and staff to keep their employer contribution while in the exchanges.
Sept. 23: Fox News: One man’s ObamaCare Nighmare:
Andy and Amy Mangione of Louisville, KY and their two boys are just the kind of people who should be helped by ObamaCare. But they recently got a nasty surprise in the mail. "When I saw the letter when I came home from work," Andy said, describing the large red wording on the envelope from his insurance carrier, "(it said) 'your action required, benefit changes, act now.' Of course I opened it immediately." It had stunning news. Insurance for the Mangiones and their two boys,which they bought on the individual market, was going to almost triple in 2014 --- from $333 a month to $965. The insurance carrier made it clear the increase was in order to be compliant with the new health care law.
"This isn't a Cadillac plan, this isn't even a silver plan," Mangione said, referring to higher levels of coverage under ObamaCare. This is a high deductible plan where I'm assuming a lot of risk for my health insurance for my family. And nothing has changed, our boys are healthy-- they're young --my wife is healthy. I'm healthy, nothing in our medical history has changed to warrant a tripling of our premiums.”
Sept. 23: Roll Call: Senate GOP Leadership set to rebuke Cruz over ObamaCare:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and many of his rank and file are poised to cast votes this week that will effectively rebuke Sen. Ted Cruz’s effort to filibuster a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government funded past Sept. 30. Cruz has been calling on fellow Republicans to block the House-passed stopgap spending bill that defunds the president’s 2010 health care law because he sees the vote as a way to prevent Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, from stripping out the Obamacare funding blockade. But a GOP-led filibuster puts many Republicans in the tough spot of opposing a bill they actually support while also likely causing a government shutdown. Any vote to filibuster is likely to come before Reid moves to strike the Obamacare defunding language.
Sept. 23: Politico: McConnell and Cornyn will support House CR and defunding ObamaCare:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will not join an effort in the Senate to block a House-passed spending bill that defunds Obamacare, a spokesman for McConnell said Monday. “Sen. McConnell supports the House Republicans’ bill and will not vote to block it, since it defunds Obamacare and funds the government without increasing spending by a penny. He will also vote against any amendment that attempts to add Obamacare funding back into the House Republicans’ bill,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for the Republican senator. The statement represents a divergence from the approach favored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT), who want Republicans to oppose a procedural vote on the House bill before Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to strip out the Obamacare defunding provision by a majority vote.
Sept. 23: Roll Call: Senators, Staff Told Not to Enroll in ObamaCare Exchanges Yet:
A memo to Senate employees circulated late Monday is telling members and staff not to sign up for health care benefits with the new Obamacare exchanges until they receive more guidance. “As the [Office of Personnel Management] Regulations are not final and we are awaiting further information, Members and staff are advised that they should delay enrolling in health insurance plans until we are able to offer further guidance as to how they should enroll in these insurance plans for 2014,” the Senate Disbursing Office said in an email blast obtained by CQ Roll Call. “Premature enrollment could adversely impact eligibility for the employer premium contribution.” Staffers in both parties have many unanswered questions about how the health care law’s requirements that they purchase health care through the exchanges are implemented. The exchanges are set to open to the public on Oct. 1.
Sept. 22: Politico: Cruz: A vote for cloture is a vote for ObamaCare:
Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday reiterated his commitment to blocking a procedural Senate vote on a House-approved spending bill, saying that Senate Democrats would have too much leeway to add in funding for Obamacare. "Any vote for cloture, any vote to allow Harry Reid to add funding to Obamacare with just a 51-vote threshold, a vote for cloture is a vote for Obamacare," the Texas Republican said on "Fox News Sunday." "And I think Senate Republicans are going to stand side-by-side with Speaker [John] Boehner and House Republicans, listening to the people and stopping this train wreck that is Obamacare."
Cruz outlined his vision for the spending battle, even as a government shutdown looms on Oct. 1 if a deal isn't hammered out. He said he doesn't know how many other senators would vote with him to block consideration of the bill, which in the House version defunds the health care law, but added that if the measure ultimately goes back unresolved to the House, it should start by passing incremental continuing resolutions.
Sept. 20: Fox News: House votes to fully fund the government while defunding ObamaCare
The House voted Friday to keep the government open through mid-December but only if Congress strips funding from ObamaCare. The vote was 230 to 189, and largely expected. One Republican from the Tidewater area of Virginia voted against the measure while two Democrats who represent marginal districts and who were elected by close votes supported passage. Current funding for the government is set to expire at the end of the month, and lawmakers must approve the stopgap bill in order to keep Washington open.
The GOP measure would fund the government through Dec. 15, at current funding levels. “Today, the constitutional conservatives in the House are keeping their word to our constituents and our nation to stand true to our principles, to protect them from the most unpopular law ever passed in the history of the country- ObamaCare- that intrudes on their privacy and our most sacred right as Americans to be left alone,” Rep. John Culberson, R-TX, said on the House floor.
The vote sets the stage for a showdown next week in the Democratic-led Senate. Realistically, the chance of the measure surviving a Senate vote is slim to none. One Senate Democrat has already announced the bill dead on arrival and called Friday’s vote a “waste of time.”
Sept. 20: The Daily Caller: Meanwhile two Democrats joined with Republicans on the Defunding Measure:
Two Democratic members of the House voted with Republicans Friday to defund Obamacare and fund the government until the end of the year: Utah Rep. Jim Matheson and North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre. “It is irresponsible to add unrelated provisions to legislation to keep our government running. I have always preferred straightforward legislating that avoids political games. However, I believe we should avoid shutting down the government, and I voted for a continuing resolution to keep the legislative process working toward that end today,” McIntyre said.
Sept. 18: Fox News: House Conservatives submit bill to replace “ObamaCare” amid defunding fight:
A group of House conservatives introduced legislation Wednesday that members say will replace ObamaCare and its “unworkable” taxes and mandates with a plan that expands tax breaks for Americans who buy their own insurance. Under the proposal endorsed by the 175-member Republican Study Committee, Americans who purchase coverage through state-run exchanges can claim a $7,500 deduction against their income and payroll taxes, regardless of the cost of the insurance. Families could deduct $20,000.
The plan -- which appears to be congressional Republicans' first comprehensive alternative to President Obama's health care overhaul -- also increases government funding for high-risk pools. The plan serves as a rebuttal to Obama's claims that Republicans just want to eliminate the health law and are no longer interested in replacing it. And it comes as House Republicans, on a different track, prepare to vote on a budget bill that would also de-fund the existing health care law. Democrats have vowed to oppose that bill, warning the strategy risks a government shutdown, with funding set to expire by Oct. 1. Roughly 75 percent of rank-and-file House Republicans are on the study committee, and the new legislation is being formally presented at a time when leaders of the GOP-led chamber have yet to advance any comprehensive alternative to ObamaCare.
Sept. 18: Fox News: House Republicans accuse Senate colleagues of caving on efforts to defund ObamaCare:
House Republicans, in an unusually caustic intra-party squabble, are ripping their conservative colleagues in the Senate for what they see as an abrupt cave-in on the push to de-fund ObamaCare. “They're waving the white flag already," one House GOP lawmaker said Wednesday. The squabble started after House Speaker John Boehner earlier in the day announced he would agree to the demands of Tea Party-aligned lawmakers to tie a vote on de-funding the health care law to a vote on a must-pass budget bill. The move would effectively condition the approval of the spending bill on ObamaCare being de-funded, or else risk a government shutdown when funding runs out at the end of the month.
But Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, one of the most vocal supporters of the “de-fund ObamaCare” push, startled his House colleagues when he released a written statement Wednesday afternoon that appeared to acknowledge the bill will probably fail in the Senate. “Today's announcement that the House will vote to defund ObamaCare is terrific news,” Cruz said, in a press release from him, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT. “Harry Reid will no doubt try to strip the defund language from the continuing resolution, and right now he likely has the votes to do so. At that point, House Republicans must stand firm, hold their ground, and continue to listen to the American people.”
Sept. 18: Fox Business: Walgreens to Move 160K Workers to Private Health-Care Exchanges:
Walgreen’s (NYSE: WAG) announced plans on Wednesday to move its workers to a private health insurance exchange, adding to the trend of corporations offering cash to workers to purchase their own plans on exchanges. The notice comes less than two weeks ahead the Affordable Care Act’s exchange open enrollment start on Oct.1, and follows similar moves from Sears-Holding (NASDAQ: SHLD) and Darden Restaurants Inc. The move to a private health insurance exchange from coverage provided directly from a company is significant, with a reported 160,000 workers who will be eligible for coverage.
While private health-exchanges are entirely separate from the ACA’s exchanges, Walgreen’s spokesman Michael Polzin says the drugstore chain decided to offer this coverage to 160,000 workers in order to keep them off government exchanges and provide them with broader coverage options. Polzin says while 160,000 of its 240,000 employees across the country will be eligible for coverage, with dependents of workers’ families on the exchange, a total of 180,000 are expected to enroll. “We are currently only offering employees two high-deductible plans, and this was an opportunity for us to broaden the options for coverage,” he says. “Our exchange is a completely separate thing from the state-run exchanges for individuals. This is a corporate private exchange.”
Sears and Darden Restaurants plan to run their own private exchanges for employees ahead of Obamacare, and media giant Time Warner and IBM also recently announced plans to move retirees onto such benefit exchanges, and may move full-time workers to these plans in the future. Private exchanges are still a minority in the marketplace. But new research shows that by 2017, private exchange participation will approach public exchange enrollment levels.
Sept. 17: Roll Call: House May Vote to Defund ObamaCare After All:
Unable to find the votes for a strategy that only superficially defunds ObamaCare, it now appears the House GOP may pursue the plan that tea-party-inspired members have been clamoring for and that I suggested back in February of this year — a stopgap spending bill that will actually defund the health care law but keep the rest of the government running. As first reported by National Review Onlline, the House will likely vote this week on a continuing resolution that funds the government but cuts off funding for Obamacare.
Sources confirmed to CQ Roll Call that Republican leaders discussed such a plan at their Elected Leaders Conference on Tuesday afternoon, but Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker Boehner, said late Tuesday afternoon that leaders had not yet formally decided to move ahead with that plan. Instead, they are expected to present the plan to members on Wednesday morning. House Republicans are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday for their weekly, closed-door conference meeting. That’s where, if such a plan were moving ahead, Republican rank and file would learn about it. “No decisions have been made, or will be made, until House Republican members meet and talk tomorrow,” Steel said.
GOP leaders are expected to be frank with members of their conference about the political realities that lie ahead and that a government shutdown should not be considered. They will likely tell members that if the Senate can’t pass a measure defunding Obamacare, the conference needs to support a plan to keep the government funded without that piece. House GOP leadership aides were tight-lipped about the details of the new CR proposal, but rumblings suggested that the stopgap spending bill would adhere to the current sequester levels of $988 billion. Democratic leaders have called that a “non-starter” in negotiations, but it is still more palatable to the minority than the $967 billion level proposed by more conservative House rank-and-file members.
If the leadership sticks with that $988 billion level, it’s highly unlikely that they would embrace an alternative measure introduced by Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., last week. That bill, which would enshrine the $967 billion level for a year, has gained some traction among the far-right House members. Some GOP lawmakers on Monday — including supporters of the Graves bill, such as John Fleming of Louisiana and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — signaled the funding level wasn’t a sticking point for them. Instead they indicated they would support any CR that defunds Obamacare as long as it was without “gimmicks.”
Sept. 17: Politico: GOP vs. GOP Battle Brewing over ObamaCare:
A new GOP vs. GOP battle is brewing over Obamacare — this time, over health care coverage for lawmakers and their staff. A growing number of Republicans are scoffing at Louisiana Sen. David Vitter’s push to stop federal contributions that will help pay for health coverage for lawmakers and their staff under the new Obamacare exchanges. Vitter’s crusade has effectively put his GOP colleagues in the unenviable position of hurting themselves and their staff financially or siding with another political attack on a law the party universally despises.
The latest pushback is another sign of how the long-running GOP fight to repeal Obamacare has suddenly degenerated into an internal Republican battle, prompting widespread concerns among party elders. “One of our strengths in this fight — even though we had minority numbers in both the House and the Senate when the law passed — was that no Republicans voted for it in the Senate,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), a member of his party’s leadership. “Somehow, some of our members seem to think there’s forward progress in figuring out ways to divide us on something we’re totally united on. That can’t be a good idea.”
In addition to the Vitter effort, tea party conservatives are demanding that any bill to keep the government running past Sept. 30 must also defund Obamacare — an effort that senior Republicans call futile even as it has put House GOP leaders in a jam. And as the conservative House Republican Study Committee prepares to release an alternative health care bill this week, House and Senate Republicans are far from united on the best way to replace Obamacare, more than three years after the law was enacted. “My personal belief is the only way to get rid of Obamacare is to be intelligent and smart about it and gradually just work on it, work it through,” said Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over health care. “But to expect the government to shut down is not the way to do it.”
Sept. 17: The Hill: House GOP weighs more aggressive ObamaCare push:
House Republican leaders will present options for dismantling President Obama’s healthcare reform law to their members in a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning as they seek a more aggressive posture in a pair of looming fiscal fights. The leadership is giving increased consideration to stripping out funding for the healthcare law in a continuing resolution to keep the government running after Sept. 30, Republican lawmakers said as they exited a meeting of the leadership Tuesday afternoon. A senior GOP aide said it was "likely" the House would send to the Senate a continuing resolution that defunded the healthcare law but that leaders had decided not to combine it with legislation raising the debt ceiling.
Conservatives forced Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) back to the drawing board last week after they rejected a plan to merely force the Senate to vote on defunding ObamaCare, rather than withhold funds directly from the spending bill. That proposal remains under consideration, Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL) told reporters after the leadership meeting. But, he said, so is a competing plan from Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) that has gained the support of nearly one-third of the Republican Conference in recent days.
The Graves plan would strip out money for the healthcare law while funding the government for a full year. It also includes three appropriations bills the House has passed. "It seems like the right one to me," Graves said. "You know what it does? It actually funds the government."
The leadership is also weighing whether to go after the Affordable Care Act as part of legislation to raise the debt ceiling rather than in the stopgap spending bill, Southerland said. Boehner and Cantor have privately pushed for using the debt ceiling rather than the continuing resolution for targeting the healthcare law. “No decisions have been made, or will be made, until House Republican members meet and talk tomorrow,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said. The chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, Rep. James Lankford (OK), said “nothing was set” in the leadership meeting. “We’re going to talk about it all in conference tomorrow, so there’s no definite plan,” Lankford said.
Yet it was clear that Boehner and his deputies were veering right as they sought a plan that could unify the conference and overcome Democratic opposition. While leaders had hoped to craft a spending bill that both the House and the Senate could accept without changes, they now appear resigned to sending legislation that the Democratic majority in the upper chamber will amend and return to the House.
Sept. 17: The Hill: Franchise owners come to Washington to plead for ObamaCare relief:
Franchise restaurant owners have come to Washington seeking a change to ObamaCare that they say could prevent them from having to cut their employees’ hours. The healthcare law requires large employers to provide insurance to employees who work at least 30 hours per week. Franchise owners say the employer mandate threatens to erase their narrow profit margins and are telling lawmakers they need to overhaul the law before it’s too late. “Employees won’t have the hours they need, and they won’t get employer-sponsored healthcare, either,” said Steve Caldeira, president and CEO of the International Franchise Association (IFA). “[Franchisees] are dealing with high commodity costs, high energy prices, higher taxes from the ‘fiscal-cliff’ deal, and now they are trying to work through ObamaCare,” he said.
More than 300 members of the franchise association are making the rounds on Capitol Hill to lobby for the ObamaCare changes. Monday’s visitors included IFA members from Mr. Rooter, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts. Their top priority is a trio of bills that would increase the law’s definition of full-time employee to 40 hours per week. Members of the IFA have been instructed to ask lawmakers whether they will co-sponsor legislation “to give employers and employees relief from burdensome employer regulations?”
Sept. 14: The Hill: Obama Administration rejects AFL-CIO request for subsidies under ObamaCare.
The Obama administration on Friday denied a request from labor unions to have their healthcare plans receive tax subsidies under ObamaCare. A White House official said the Treasury Department has determined that the healthcare plans used by many union members — known as multi-employer or Taft-Hartley plans — cannot be made eligible for subsidies that are intended to help uninsured people afford coverage. “The Treasury Department issued a letter today making clear that it does not see a legal way for individuals in multi-employer group health plans to receive individual market tax credits as well as the favorable tax treatment associated with employer-provided health insurance at the same time,” the official said.
Nevertheless, the administration said it plans to work with unions to make sure members can obtain coverage through the new insurance exchanges. “The administration will work with multi-employer plans and other non-profit plans and encourage them to offer coverage through the Marketplace, on an equal footing, to create new, high-quality, affordable options for all Americans,” said the official. The rejection of labor’s request was announced after President Obama and Vice President Biden sat down at the White House with labor leaders.
Sept. 13: The Daily Caller: Sen. Vitter: Reid and Boxer using bribery and intimidation:
Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter on Friday accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of engaging in a “intimidation and payoff scheme” to “bribe” colleagues to vote a certain way on a bill, after it was reported Friday morning that Democrats were trying to rekindle Vitter’s 2007 prostitution scandal to stop him from opposing an energy bill. Politico first reported that Democrats were drafting legislation that would deny any lawmaker government contributions to their health care, a perk of life in Congress, if there is “probably cause” that he or she solicited prostitutes.
The draft legislation is in retaliation for Vitter holding up a floor debate this week on an energy efficiency bill by trying to attach an amendment to the bill that would take away government contributions to lawmakers’ health-care coverage. Another version of the bill would take away the benefits from anyone who voted to end such benefits, meaning Vitter, and anyone who voted for his amendment, would lose that government contribution. Vitter said this is an attempt at “bribery” and “threatening their colleagues in the Senate with increased personal health-care costs if they do not vote a certain way on a particular amendment proposed by me concerning the 2010 Affordable Care Act.”
“Even if the proposed amendment is not actually introduced,” Vitter wrote in a letter to the Ethics Committee, “the fact that such legislation has not only been drafted, but also released to the press, has already induced the intended intimidating effect.” He asked that the Ethics Committee launch an investigation into Reid and Boxer. He asks that Boxer, who chairs the committee, recuse herself from the investigation, and suggests she be removed from the committee if found guilty of an ethics violation.
Sept. 12: Politico: AFL-CIO Not Happy with ObamaCare:
Key parts of organized labor have a case of buyer’s remorse over Obamacare and they’re letting everyone know about it. The AFL-CIO at its convention this week passed a resolution calling President Barack Obama’s health law “highly disruptive” to some union insurance plans, “substantially changing the coverage available for millions of covered employees and their families.” The labor federation did back the sweeping goals of Obamacare — covering people and restraining costs —but that wasn’t the part of the message that resonated politically. “It’s encouraging to see those who strongly endorsed the health care law finally recognize its fundamental problems,” the GOP-led House Education and Workforce Committee said in a statement Thursday.
Sept. 12: Roll Call: 43 GOP Lawmakers Float Alternative CR that Defunds ObamaCare
Forty-three House Republicans have introduced their own continuing resolution that they think would achieve the goal of both cutting spending and defunding Obamacare better than the plan GOP leaders put forth Tuesday. Rather than fund the government for a month and a half at the post-sequester top line of $988 billion, it would run through all of fiscal 2014 at the lower, $967 billion levels many Republicans favor.
And, instead of relying on a legislative maneuver to force the Senate to vote on defunding ObamaCare without risking a shutdown at the end of the month, it contains language that would actually zero out funding for the president’s signature health care law. It could spell trouble for the Ohio Republican and other members of the leadership team as they try to come up with a strategy that won’t alienate their base but has an actual chance of passing the Senate.
“Our plan will achieve fairness for every American by fully delaying and defunding Obamacare until 2015,” Rep. Tom Graves of Georgia said in a statement. “This approach builds upon the Obama Administration’s policy of delaying portions of Obamacare and relieves taxpayers of the burden of funding a program that is not being implemented.”
Heritage Action for America likes the sound of this. “Rep. Graves and his colleagues are stepping up to fill a critical void in the House,” said Mike Needham, the group’s CEO. “We encourage all members to support the Graves bill.” Though this might have the votes to pass the Republican-controlled House, the chance for getting the green light from the Senate and the White House appears even less likely than the plan GOP leaders presented to members earlier this week.
Sept. 12: Politico: White House determined not to give ground on ObamaCare:
Don’t blink first. That’s the strategy President Barack Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats are pursuing as the nation faces a government shutdown, a historic default on its debt and the final phase of Obamacare. Obama’s domestic agenda – headed up by infrastructure spending, gun control, and immigration reform — has long since stalled. Now, with the basic functions of government on the line again, he’s defining his goal as not giving any more ground to House Republicans — no budget cuts and no concessions on Obamacare or the debt limit.
Sept. 10: The Hill: Conservatives skeptical of ObamaCare defunding move. Some call it a way to say one thing but do another:
House Republican leaders will have to overcome a skeptical conservative bloc to pass a plan that would force the Senate to vote on defunding ObamaCare before enacting a critical spending measure. Lawmakers on Tuesday offered a mixed response to a proposal outlined by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) that would use a procedural maneuver to give conservatives a vote on President Obama’s healthcare law while diminishing the chances of a government shutdown after Sept. 30. The House could vote by the end of the week on the plan, but with Democrats unlikely to help, it remains unclear whether the leadership could cobble together enough votes among conservatives. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told reporters the leadership would be talking to members about the plan “as the day goes on and the rest of the week.”
Under the plan, the House would vote on a continuing resolution (CR) that maintains federal spending at sequester levels. The measure would include a separate concurrent resolution defunding the healthcare law, and under the rule governing debate, the Senate would have to vote up-or-down on the healthcare resolution before it could vote on the spending bill. Assuming the Senate vote to defund ObamaCare failed, the continuing resolution could then be sent to the president without returning to the House.
Meanwhile some conservative groups are calling this a trick rule. In a recent email we received it reports about the measure proposed by the House GOP leadership: “House Republican leaders have chickened out and decided to fund a program that will destroy our country. According to media reports, GOP leaders will attempt to pass a "trick rule" that allows them to pretend to defund Obamacare without actually doing so. Under the trick rule, the House will pass a continuing resolution that fully funds Obamacare along with separate phony bill that defunds Obamacare. Democrats in the Senate will then throw the defunding bill in the garbage and send the real bill that funds Obamacare to the president's desk. It's the "now you see defunding, now you don't" strategy.”
Sept. 8: The Hill: Effort to defund ObamaCare tries to regain its momentum this week
Conservatives will take their defund-ObamaCare push back to Washington, D.C., this week with an event to rally support and combat a wide shift in focus away from the issue. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY) and a slew of House members and Tea Party leaders will host a rally Tuesday to pressure leaders not to pay for healthcare reform in the next bill to fund the government. The anti-funding movement, which dominated headlines at the beginning of the summer, has not gained enough support to assure victory as Congress enters a series of fiscal negotiations over the next two months.
To the contrary, Republican congressional leaders remain non-committal and chatter in Washington has been consumed for the last week with the debate over whether the U.S. military should intervene in Syria's civil war. Tea Party supporters also face a tough break with the scheduling of their rally, the most prominent in a series of August events across the country highlighting criticisms of ObamaCare.
Anti-ObamaCare activists remain hopeful that they can build enough pressure on Republican leaders to deal a major blow to ObamaCare in any bills to fund the government. But others expressed skepticism that the movement can achieve its goals amid votes in Congress over Syria and intensifying pressure not to allow a government shutdown.
Sept. 5: Politico: Obama Admin. Plans $12 Million Ad Buy to promote ObamaCare and it could be over $40M; Who’s paying the bill? You are!
The Obama administration is readying a multimillion-dollar onslaught of ads in a dozen red states to encourage Americans to sign up for Obamacare insurance exchanges, media-tracking sources tell Politico. The Center for Medicare Services at the Dept. of Health and Human Services has reserved at least $12 million in airtime starting Sept. 30 in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana and Michigan. All but one, Missouri, are led by Republican governors — including many who have been hostile to the health law — and even in Missouri, a Republican-dominated legislature has set an anti-Obamacare agenda. The number of states and the total cost of the ad campaign are both expected to grow with the approach of the enrollment period that begins on Oct. 1. The administration awarded a $41 million PR contract to the firm Weber Shandwick earlier this year to promote participation.
Sept. 5: Politico: TEA Party Group’s Ad Hits McConnell over ObamaCare:
The Senate Conservatives Fund has launched $340,000 in television ads slamming Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for not taking a hardline stance on defunding the health care law. “Obamacare starts in October but Congress can stop its funding,” the ad says. “What’s Mitch McConnell doing? Nothing. McConnell is the Senate Republican leader, but he refuses to lead on defunding Obamacare. What good is a leader like that?”
The tea party-affiliated group, which was founded by former Sen. Jim DeMint, has been pressuring members of Congress not to vote for any spending bills this fall that include funding for the Affordable Care Act. McConnell hasn’t signed a letter pushed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) that pledges to oppose any continuing resolution that funds the law. More than a dozen Republican senators have signed on. “If there was ever a time when Kentucky needed Mitch McConnell to deliver, it is now,” SCF Director Matt Hoskins said in a statement. “We hope he listens to the voters and finds the courage to lead.”
Sept. 5: Fox News: Study says New Mexico will see the highest rate increases from ObamaCare:
A national study of the Affordable Care Act shows people in New Mexico who buy health insurance on their own could face a huge spike in their premium costs. The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a fiscally conservative think tank based in New York City, looked at 13 states plus the District of Columbia and found that nine states will see increases on average while five will see decreases. The study says that New Mexico, at 130 percent, will see the steepest rate hike, followed by Vermont (97 percent), South Dakota (83 percent) and Connecticut (50 percent).
Sept. 5: The Hill: IRS issues rules for employer mandate under ObamaCare:
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Thursday issued instructions for complying with ObamaCare's employer mandate. The mandate, which requires businesses with more than 50 workers to offer insurance or face penalties, was initially slated to take effect in January. But the Obama administration announced in July that it would delay enactment of the contentious rule for a year, in part because of confusion over the reporting requirements. Still, the IRS is urging insurers and applicable employers to begin following the draft rules next year on a voluntary basis.
Sept. 2: The Hill: Labor union frustration boils over president with obamaCare:
Unions are frustrated the Obama administration hasn’t responded to their calls for changes to ObamaCare. Labor has watched with growing annoyance as the White House has backed ObamaCare changes in response to concerns from business groups, religious organizations and even lawmakers and their staffs. They say they don’t understand why their concerns so far have fallen of deaf ears. “We are disappointed that the non-profit health plans offered by unions have not been given the same consideration as the Catholic Church, big business and Capitol Hill staffers,” Unite Here President D. Taylor told The Hill.
It's an issue that Obama may have to face when he speaks to the AFL-CIO convention a week after Labor Day. Most unions backed ObamaCare’s passage, but labor argues provisions in the law could cut employee hours, unfairly tax their plans and force workers off their union health plans into the law’s potentially more costly insurance exchanges. The key issue are union members who are among the roughly 20 million people who use non-profit multi-employer “Taft-Hartley” health plans. Unions want the administration to change ObamaCare so that those plans are treated as qualified health plans that can earn tax subsidies. Under the administration's interpretation of the law, the multi-employer plans are not eligible for the subsidies.
Aug. 30: Roll Call: Senator Lee asks Utahns to pressure Hatch on ObamaCare Defunding:
Republican Sen. Mike Lee encouraged a constituent at a town hall meeting this week to push fellow Utah Sen. Orrin G. Hatch to support his effort to block spending bills until Obamacare is defunded. “I know he’s not supporting you in the health care defunding,” the questioner asked. “Do you have any influence with Sen. Hatch because it doesn’t seem like he’s listening to the people out here, and I’d recommend that anybody here that supports you would get on the phone and talk to Sen. Hatch and try to tell him that that’s what they want.” Lee emphasized that he would not speak for Hatch and said that they got along well, but he also suggested that constituents could help pressure Hatch.
“The fact that some have not yet signed my letter, and he is one who … has not, doesn’t necessarily indicate where he’ll be at the end of the day. There are some members of the Senate who have told me that they’ll end up voting the same way I’m going to be voting, but for a variety of reasons tactical and strategic, some of them are choosing not to sign it,” said Lee. “I wish they would sign it, I’d love it if they sign it. If you can convince Sen. Hatch to sign the letter, I’ll be deeply in your debt.”
Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for Hatch, responded in an email to Roll Call: “Senator Hatch shares the same passion as Senator Lee when it comes to ObamaCare. The largest expansion of government in generations, Senator Hatch believes it will lead to a single-payer, European-style health care system that Democrats wanted all along. Not only has Senator Hatch repeatedly voted to repeal ObamaCare, but he’s put forward legislation repealing the individual and employer mandates, and the medical device and the health insurance taxes,” Ferrier said. “He looks forward to continuing to work with all his colleagues to examine every way of stopping ObamaCare — a law that increases health care costs, raises taxes and hurts our economy.”
Hatch is the top Republican on the Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over much of the health care law.
Aug. 30: Fox News: “Free” benefits in ObamaCare come with hidden costs:
The new health care law promises all sorts of free benefits -- but analysts argue nothing is ultimately free, and ObamaCare is no exception. “P. J. O'Rourke famously said that if you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's free,” said Avik Roy, of the Manhattan Institute. “Once you lard on all these additional things, all these extras that insurers must provide, you have to pay for that." For the average consumer, that means taxes, the American Enterprise Institute’s Jim Capretta told Fox News. "There's going to be taxes on insurance. Taxes on drugs. Taxes on medical devices. All of that is getting passed through to the prices people have to pay either for direct services or their insurance premiums,” he said.
The administration points to a host of free services as one of the early benefits of the new law. "That means free check-ups, free mammograms, immunizations and other basic services,” President Obama said last year. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also says "people now have preventive services as part of their health plan without co-pays and coinsurance. So everything from cancer screenings to children's immunizations have to be covered." Plus, children up to 26 can stay on their parents' plan at no cost.
Delta Airlines, though, says that change will cost the company $8 million just next year. And they're not alone. Helen Daring, CEO of the National Business Group on Health, said: "I know of at least one employer that gained eight-thousand people [on the insurance rolls]. Now even if they're not the most expensive, eight-thousand people -- that's a lot of people." That's why analysts say nothing in health care is really free -- someone, somewhere has to pay. In fact, doctors note many government programs pay too little for preventive care to make it widely available.
There is one other factor -- some research shows while preventive care is a good thing, offering it for free could swamp the medical system. John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas notes that "economists at Duke University estimated that if we all went every year and got all of the free tests we're supposed to have, that this will take 7.5 hours of every doctor's time, every working day." That would bog down the entire medical profession, he argues, leaving them less time to deal with people who are actually sick.
Aug. 29: The Daily Caller: ObamaCare polls give Republican health reformers hope:
A newly released poll finds that two out of three Americans would like to see major changes to the Affordable Care Act. The poll by the Morning Consult, a medical industry trade publication, found that while 34 percent of registered voters would like Obamacare defunded or repealed entirely, another 33 percent of respondents on top of that want to see some changes made to the health care reform law. Sixty-seven percent oppose the individual mandate, with 77 percent in favor of either repealing or delaying it. This includes 65 percent of Democrats. The survey also found 57 percent of respondents fear Obamacare will increase their health care costs, while just 21 percent think they can expect higher quality care.
Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Price has been pushing such a proposal since Obamacare passed in 2009. “Obamacare will need a replacement,” Price told National Review Online, “because it won’t work.” Price’s bill includes interstate competition for health insurance sales and tort reform to ease anxious physicians wary of lawsuits, but also uses tax credits and other incentives rather than mandates to get individuals into the insurance market.
Aug. 28: The Hill: New ObamaCare rule uses terms “shared responsibility payment” and “penalty” instead of “tax”
The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) final rule on Obamacare’s individual mandate, released this week, uses the term “Shared Responsibility Payment” more than 50 times to describe the mandate’s non-compliance penalty, which the Supreme Court in 2012 defined as a tax. The IRS also used the term “shared responsibility penalty” in the rule, which does not identify the individual mandate as a tax.
The 75-page rule published by the IRS, which is tasked with enforcing Obamacare as the law is fully implemented in 2014, is entitled “Shared Responsibility Payment for Not Maintaining Minimum Essential Coverage.” While the Obama administration originally pitched the individual mandate as a penalty, not a tax, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts ruled in June 2012 that Obamacare is only constitutional because the individual mandate is technically a tax. Nevertheless, the IRS used the term “penalty” in at least one instance in the new document.
“A commentator expressed a concern that a United States citizen or national who resides outside the United States may be subject to the shared responsibility penalty even if the individual has health care coverage provided by a foreign health insurance,” the IRS document states on page 22. The IRS document also uses the terms “monthly penalty amount” (page 44) and “monthly penalty amounts” to refer to individuals’ hypothetical costs under their shared responsibility payments.
Using the term “shared responsibility payment” to refer to what was legally defined as a tax might constitute an act of dishonesty on the part of the Obama administration, according to one expert. “They lied to the American people, lied to the Supreme Court, now they’re back to lying to the American people,” Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist told The Daily Caller.
Aug. 28: Fox News: ObamaCare faces another delay, lawmaker calls implementation “train wreck”
The Obama administration has delayed another component of the federal health care law, leading a Republican lawmaker to call the law’s implementation a “train wreck.” Reuters first reported that the Department of Health and Human Services informed insurance companies Tuesday it is delaying signing the final agreements between the government and insurance providers whose plans will be sold on federal health insurance exchanges. The agreements were supposed to be signed between Sept. 5 and 9, but instead will be delayed until mid-September.
The department did not give a clear-cut reason for the delay, but attributed it to the need to be flexible in working with the insurance companies and to resolve unspecified technical issues. “We remain on track to open the marketplace on time on October 1,” HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters told Fox Business Network.
However, some experts tell Reuters even a small delay could affect the Oct. 1 start of ObamaCare’s six-month enrollment period, and alter the timetable for the implementation as a whole. The new timetable for the insurance agreements is only the latest in a series of delays for ObamaCare.
Aug. 27: Roll Call: Enzi & Vitter would force Congress, Obama & Biden to pay for Healthcare:
Republicans David Vitter of Louisiana and Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming introduced legislation Tuesday that would make members, political appointees, the president and the vice president pay out of pocket for the full cost of their health care through exchanges set up by Obamacare. “If Obamacare is good enough for the American people, it should be good enough for Congress, the President and Vice President, and other policy makers in Washington,” Enzi said in a statement. “I’ve said from the beginning that this law wouldn’t work and we see that proof daily with the endless exemptions, delays, and subsidies being authorized by the President. There’s no excuse for trying to let certain individuals and businesses off the hook when the American people are already paying the price of bad policy.”
The bill responds to an administrative fix to the health law implemented by the Office of Personnel Management and would require all Congressional staff members — not just some — to enter an exchange. Vitter’s and Enzi’s offices said in a press release that their bill would prohibit staffers “from receiving any contribution greater than what they would receive if they were not employed by a congressional office,” which is essentially the fix OPM made for staff.
Aug. 26: The Hill: Cruz & Paul to headline rally against funding for ObamaCare:
Key proponents of a plan to allow a government shutdown rather than fund ObamaCare will bring their campaign back to Washington with a major rally next month. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) will speak at an event on Capitol Hill on Sept. 10, the day Congress returns from its summer recess. The rally will cap several months of efforts by conservative groups to build grassroots support for the defunding threat.
The movement has received considerable airtime on conservative talk radio and attention at constituent townhalls over the last three weeks. But only 13 senators have publicly agreed not to support government funding bills that include money for the healthcare reform law, leading critics to charge that the campaign is losing steam. Cruz, Paul and other leaders have also received criticism from fellow Republicans wary of how a shutdown could hurt the GOP. Supporters need 41 senators in order to set their plan in motion. A shutdown would likely occur if Senate Republicans refuse to allow any continuing resolution that includes money for ObamaCare.
Aug. 26: The Hill: Tea Party to rally against “BoehnerCare” over fight to defund healthcare law:
Tea Party activists are planning a rally outside Speaker John Boehner’s (R) Ohio office on Tuesday, vowing they will rebrand President Obama’s healthcare reform law “BoehnerCare" if he does not get behind a conservative effort to defund the legislation. “If he funds it, he will own it,” said Janet Porter, president of Faith2Action, one of the groups scheduled to participate in the rally, according to The Washington Times. Boehner, along with congressional GOP leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY), has yet to voice support for the effort.
A group of lawmakers vowed before the August recess to block any spending bills that would also fund the law, risking a government shutdown after Sept. 30. Conservative radio host Mark Levin used the term “BoehnerCare” on his nationally syndicated radio program last week. “Rather than calling it ObamaCare, we should call it BeohnerCare” if the Speaker follows through with the current plan to fund the law in the upcoming continuing resolution that funds the government, Levin said. “So I think I’m going to call it BoehnerCare if I can remember from time to time, certainly more often, because Boehner won’t even fight. Boehner, he’s just – is the word 'pathetic' appropriate?”
Aug. 25: Fox News: Cruz presses ahead with defunding ObamaCare, says it will take a “tsunami” of support:
The race to stop ObamaCare before Americans can officially sign up this fall for the government-backed health insurance intensified Sunday with two of the movement’s biggest champions confident they will succeed but acknowledging it will take a “tsunami” of support. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a Tea Party-backed lawmaker at the center of the effort to “defund” ObamaCare, said the fight will play out in the weeks before the Oct. 1 signup date and that success will require a grass-roots effort in which Americans across the country “demand” their elected officials “do the right thing.” “This fight is likely to heat up in the month of September,” Cruz told CNN’s “State of the Union." “That's going to be when the battle is engaged.”
Cruz is joining Heritage Action for America, the advocacy arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, to get lawmakers after they return to Capitol Hill next week to separate out ObamaCare from a temporary spending bill to keep the federal government running, then vote in favor of the spending bill to avoid a politically unpopular government shutdown. However, he acknowledges Republicans still don’t have the support on Capitol Hill -- 41 members in the Senate or 218 in the House. “We do not have the votes right now,” Cruz said. “But I believe if we see a grass-roots tsunami, that is going to cause Republicans and Democrats to listen to the people. … It is going to take a tsunami and I'm going to do everything I can to encourage that tsunami."
Aug. 23: The Daily Caller: Obama hides ObamaCare subsidies for foreign students and guest workers:
President Barack Obama told Americans Friday that federal aid is reserved for citizens, even though his deputies have drafted complex regulations to give taxpayer-funded Obamacare subsidies to foreign students and to millions of guest workers. He made the misleading claim during a televised roundtable at the second stop of his two-day, two-state tour promoting more aid to students. “Obviously, when it come to federal grants, loans, support, subsidies, that we provide, those are for our citizens,” Obama told a student questioner from the friendly audience of college professors, administrators and students at the Binghamton University in New York. A 1996 law bars foreigners and recent immigrants for most means-tested products. But the Obamacare system will provide valuable health-care subsidies to many student-workers and foreign guest workers hired for jobs in America.
Aug. 23: Roll Call: GOP House Conference Chair says “probably not realistic” to defund ObamaCare:
House Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) conceded on Thursday that it’s “probably not realistic” to expect to achieve a full dismantling of Obamacare in the 113th Congress. According to the Spokeman-Review, McMorris Rodgers offered her predictions for the future of the health care law following a town hall meeting in her home district of Spokane. “To get the entire bill repealed, or defunded, is probably not realistic,” she said. “But I do think that there are provisions in the law what we can get delayed, or provisions in the law we can get defunded.”
On Friday, her spokeswoman told CQ Roll Call that the fourth-most-senior House Republican was as committed as anybody else to repealing the health care law but that she was cognizant of political reality. “Her comment was in no way a concession that we need to let Obamacare stand,” the spokeswoman said in an email. “She’s 100 percent focused on dismantling and defunding the law so we can replace it with smarter solutions that actually help the American people. In this context, she was merely referencing the strong unlikelihood that the President would repeal his own law — and the need for Republicans to focus on what they can dismantle.”
Her comments on Thursday evening following a town hall meeting in her home district comes on the heels of calls by conservative members of the house to defund ObamaCare in any bill to keep the government open past Sept. 30. Leadership has also eyed tying Obamacare rollbacks to legislation extending the debt limit later this fall. Speaker John A. Boehner hasn’t yet ruled out a defunding fight, but in remarks to his flock Thursday, he sought to put the focus on any shutdown fight on Obama and the sequester.
Aug. 23: Fox News: Delta warns ObamaCare will drive $100 million spike into health care:
Delta Air Lines has issued an urgent warning about the impact of ObamaCare, claiming the law's implementation will contribute to a roughly $100 million increase in health care costs next year alone. The astonishing figure was included in a letter from Delta executive Robert Kight to officials in the Obama administration. The website RedState.com was the first to obtain and publish the letter earlier this week. A representative with Delta confirmed the authenticity of the letter to FoxNews.com. "Like many large companies, Delta faces significantly increased healthcare costs in 2014 and beyond," the company said in a statement on Friday. "Delta will absorb the vast majority of those increased costs so that we can continue providing a high value, high quality health plan. Consistent with our culture, Delta will always keep the best interests of our people in mind in connection with the healthcare and other benefits we provide."
A large chunk of the cost comes from various fees and costs associated with the implementation of the health care law. One of the costly items pertains to an annual fee of $63 per "covered participant" next year. The company estimates this means a more than $10 million expense in 2014. The catch for Delta is that, because many of their employees insure through Delta, the fee meant to help subsidize the health care law's coverage amounts to a "direct subsidy" from the company that provides "zero direct benefit to our participants," Kight said. Another added cost comes from the requirement to cover children and young adults on parents' plans until they're 26 years old. Kight reports that the change led to 8,000 more people being added to their rolls, at an annual cost of $14 million. Further, the individual mandate -- or the requirement on individuals to obtain health.
The administration and other supporters of the law argue that it will expand coverage to millions, and use subsidies to help those in need purchase insurance. But in the process, employers claim they are being forced to change or downsize policies, and reduce worker hours. The latter change is being made because a provision in the law, eventually, will mandate insurance coverage for employees working 30 or more hours -- some are trimming their staff to avoid crossing that threshold.
Aug. 22: Roll Call: The number of Congressman wanting to defund ObamaCare grows to 80:
The number and names are in: 80 House Republicans representing the most conservative wing of their conference have signed the letter urging leadership to defund Obamacare in any spending bill to float the government past Sept. 30. The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, doesn’t mention “government shutdown,” but that’s exactly what that strategy would provoke, given that a repeal by any other name is dead on arrival in the Senate and would not be signed by President Barack Obama. The letter does give the lawmakers an out — it stops short of demanding defunding in return for their votes. And the number — about a third of the GOP Conference — falls well short of putting GOP leaders at risk of violating the “Hastert rule” requiring a majority of the majority if they ignore the letter.
“I think that number is going to continue to grow as we continue through August,” said Dan Holler, spokesman for Heritage Action for America, the conservative advocacy group that has put $550,000 behind an ad campaign pressuring nearly 100 House GOP holdouts to sign Meadows’ letter. “I don’t accept the premise that this [number] is where we are going to end up.” Though Meadows’ office submitted the letter to Speaker John A. Boehner, R-OH, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-VA., on Thursday, the letter will remain open to receiving more signatures in the days ahead, and Heritage Action will continue to monitor developments, Holler said.
Aug. 18: The Hill: Rand Paul: “I don’t think shutting down the government is a good idea”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Sunday that Republicans should “stand up and fight” against ObamaCare, but warned that forcing a government shutdown over funding for the law is the wrong strategy. "I don't think shutting down the government is a good idea, but I do think that we were elected, conservatives were elected, to try to stop this overreach, this government takeover of healthcare," Paul told "Fox News Sunday." Paul said Republicans should use the desire to avoid a government shutdown to squeeze concessions out of Democrats, predicting that a spending bill that headed to conference committee could see a delay of the individual mandate or opening of the insurance exchanges.
"People want us to stand up and fight, I'm willing to stand up and fight," Paul said. "We should use the leverage of controlling one-third of the government. We don't control all of the government, but Republicans control the House of Representatives, they should stand up, use that power to at the very least make that law less bad, delay it, do something we can to protect the American public from the law." Last month, some 60 House Republicans sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) urging leadership to remove funding for the Affordable Care Act in its next continuing resolution, while Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has spearheaded a similar push in the Senate. In the house the number has now grown from 60 to 80.
Aug. 17: Politico: Obama: The GOP is trying to gum up Affordable Care Act
President Barack Obama criticized Republicans for trying to “gum up the works” in the health care reform law and for refusing to help constituents sign up for coverage. “A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they’ll somehow be sticking it to me. But they’d just be sticking it to you,” Obama said in his weekly address.
The White House and its allies have already started outreach to encourage people to sign up for the Affordable Care Act’s major provisions, such as the insurance exchanges, which start on Jan. 1. Consumers can start signing up on Oct. 1. Obama needs young and healthy people to sign up for coverage to balance out older and sicker people — and to ensure that the law’s exchanges work. Republicans oppose the law, arguing that the policy is so bad that the exchanges will collapse. Obama acknowledged that some Republicans are informing their constituents of the law’s benefits but he said some won’t even help constituents who call with questions.
Aug. 16: The Hill: McConnell under pressure from the right on ObamaCare Defunding:
A conservative group founded by ex-Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has launched a media campaign in Kentucky to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to back an effort to threaten a government shutdown over defunding ObamaCare. The Senate Conservatives Fund said it wants McConnell to “feel the heat” over the issue, which has divided Republicans.
McConnell this week said shutting down the government would not stop the healthcare law. He also said that certain parts of the healthcare law are “probably OK.” The conservative group accused the GOP leader of “waving the white flag” and blamed him for the fact that other senators were not backing Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) effort to move a government-funding measure that defunds ObamaCare. “Mitch McConnell says some parts of Obamacare are ‘okay.’ Since Mitch McConnell is unwilling to see the light on this issue, we need to make him feel the heat,” an email from the group seeking funds for its campaign reads.
It says it wants to “expose McConnell’s record on this issue and to persuade him to lead the fight.” Many Republicans think Senate Democrats and President Obama will block any government-funding measure that excludes funds for the healthcare law, setting up a scenario where the government would shutdown and Republicans could be blamed. But the issue continues to have momentum with the grassroots, and could pose a dilemma for McConnell, who faces reelection next year and is being challenged on the right by Marc Bevin in a GOP primary. Bevin has repeatedly accused McConnell of not being aggressive enough in challenging the president’s healthcare law.
Aug. 16: The Hill: Right says grassroots support is building for defunding ObamaCare
House conservatives say grassroots support is building for their effort to risk a government shutdown to defund ObamaCare. Conservatives who back the strategy said their spines have been stiffened by support at town hall meetings. “I have not heard don’t shut down the government over ObamaCare,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) said, referring to meetings with his constituents over the recess. “I have heard this law is not ready for primetime and we need to do anything we can to stop it.” Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) has held six events in his north Texas district so far in August, and is leaning toward backing the shutdown threat.
He also said the federal government’s move this month to subsidize health insurance for lawmakers and staff required to enter ObamaCare’s exchanges is acting as an “accelerant” and “driving people into a froth” about shutting the government down over ObamaCare funding.
“I'm hearing a lot of anger that is right beneath the surface, ready to erupt,” Burgess said. At one town hall, Burgess said support for the defunding threat was "virtually unanimous" when he asked for a show of hands.
Even the Republicans opposed to the effort acknowledge their constituents are telling them to go all out in defunding ObamaCare. “I’m getting quite a bit about having a shutdown over Obamacare. I disagree with that,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), who described his town halls as “challenging.”
GOP leaders have not said whether they would cut funding for ObamaCare as part of a continuing resolution to keep the government operating. Without a new government funding bill, a shutdown will occur on Oct. 1.
Aug. 16: Fox News: Oversight Committee: Administration withheld ObamaCare Documents:
The House Oversight Committee slammed the Treasury Department on Thursday for withholding documents related to the committee's investigation of the administration's expansion of subsidies in the ObamaCare exchanges. Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Health Care Subcommittee chairman James Lankford, (R-PA) threatened in their letter to use legal force against the department if it does not turn over the documents by Aug. 29.
The committee has been investigating for over a year the administration's decision to expand subsidies to the federally run health insurance exchanges mandated by ObamaCare. The 2010 law creates subsidies for insurance purchased on state-created exchanges, but it is unclear if the law permits the federal government to extend these subsidies to the federally run exchanges. Issa and Lankford, along with leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee, requested 50 outstanding emails and other documents by Aug. 13 in a letter dated July 25. The two Oversight Committee leaders found the documents provided by Treasury insufficient. "In total, Treasury only produced 17 pages of material relevant to the Committees' oversight," they wrote. "Most of these pages consisted of emails from Treasury staff forwarding or commenting on various news articles or blog posts."
Aug. 15: The Daily Caller: Study: How young people could derail ObamaCare:
Millions of young Americans could save money by simply paying Obamacare penalties rather than buying insurance when the controversial health-care law is implemented in 2014, according to a new study. “Millions of single, childless adults will save at least $500 by forgoing insurance and paying the fine in 2014. The problem is that to be viable, the exchanges need these ‘young invincibles’ to participate,’” said David Hogberg, health-care policy analyst for the National Center for Public Policy Research, which conducted the study.
In 2014, millions of single, childless Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 will be better off paying a $95 individual mandate penalty or one percent of their income (defined as a “tax” by the Supreme Court) than buying insurance, according to the study. If enough young people decline to buy insurance and take the penalty instead, the administration’s fears of a rate-hiking “death spiral” would become a reality, according to Hogberg’s findings.
Aug. 14: Fox News: Polls show support for ObamaCare is slipping even further:
As problems continue to pile up over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, polls from Fox News, Gallup and Rasmussen signal that growing confusion over the complexities of the law, how it will be rolled out and how much it will cost is eroding public support. A majority of Americans say they believe the new health care law will increase their medical costs and taxes, according to an Aug. 8 Fox News poll. The survey found 57 percent of those polled felt the way ObamaCare was being rolled out was "a joke."
Overall, 63 percent of voters believe that the 2010 health care law needs to be changed. That number is up from 58 percent of those asked the question in July 2012. The number of Republicans who think the law should be changed remained steady at 84 percent. According to the poll, more voters used negative terms to describe the health care overhaul -- with 39 percent calling it "disastrous" and 14 percent calling it "a step backwards."
Aug. 14: The Daily Caller: Senate GOP Establishment Leader Hints Defunding ObamaCare will not work!
Shutting down the government would not block Obamacare from taking effect, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. The comments, first reported by WYMT, don’t offer any help to Republican Sens. Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, who have been pushing for their colleagues to vote against any continuing resolution that does not defund the healthcare law. They argue it is the last chance to get rid of the much derided law. If Congress does not pass a continuing resolution to fund the government past the end of September, the government will shutdown. In his first public comments on the issue, McConnell hinted at disagreement with the approach.
“The problem is the bill that would shut down the government wouldn’t shut down Obamacare,” he said. “Most of it is permanent law and not affected by that. It also wouldn’t stop the taxes. Taxes that are going in on medical devices, taxes that are going in on health insurance premiums.”
Aug. 11: Politico: Gohmert: President lied about GOP on ObamaCare:
Rep. Louie Gohmert charged on Sunday that President Barack Obama lied when he said during his White House press conference Friday that Republicans want to stop Americans from getting health care. “That's a false narrative. He said that we're trying to keep people from getting health care. That's just not true. That is an absolute, blatant lie," the Texas Republican said. "We're not trying to keep anybody from getting health care. And whether or not they have insurance under an exchange or not does not prevent people from getting health care." Gohmert was appearing on a political roundtable panel on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday with a fellow Texas congressman, Democrat Joaquín Castro, who defended Obama's remarks and criticized Republicans for "extreme ideology."
Gohmert said he supports efforts to defund Obamacare even if it means the President will shut down the federal government as a result. He said there aren't enough votes for it now but there may be after August recess.
Aug. 10: The Hill: Senator Cruz mocks colleagues on lack of commitment to defund ObamaCare
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) fired a broadside at his Senate GOP colleagues Saturday by mocking their commitment to defunding ObamaCare and calling for a grassroots army to take up the cause. Cruz told conservative activists gathered at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, that that many Republican lawmakers are not ready to fight what he called the most important battle in Washington: stopping the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
He elicited roaring applause from the audience when he called repeal of ObamaCare the most important regulatory reform on the agenda. Contrasting the crowd’s response to his GOP colleagues’, he quipped: “If I were sitting in the Senate cloakroom, the reaction to that statement would be fundamentally different. I don’t know that I’m quick enough to dodge all the things that would be thrown at me.” Other Republican senators have warned against this strategy as a dangerous gambit that could backfire.
“I can’t count the number of Republicans in Washington who say, ‘Look, we can’t defund it. No, no, no. We can pass symbolic votes against it but we can’t actually stand up and take a risk and be potentially be blamed,’” Cruz said. He called on conservative activists to form a “grassroots army” over the next month and a half to put pressure on GOP leaders to block any stopgap spending measure to keep the government running past the end of September if it allows the controversial health reform law to go forward. He urged them to visit the website www.Don’tFundObamaCare.com and to text the word “growth” to 33733.
Aug. 10: The Daily Caller: Harry Reid says ObamaCare will lead to a single-payer health system
One hundred and eighty degrees from what Obama has said over and over, Senator Reid (D-NV) says he wants Obamacare to lead to a single-payer healthcare system, meaning that the promise that people who are happy with their present health insurance coverage would eventually lose the ability to keep it. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that the U.S. needs to “work our way past” an insurance-based healthcare system during an interview Friday with the Las Vegas PBS program “Nevada Week in Review,” the Las Vegas Sun reports. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, is the first step in some lawmakers’ plans to reshape the entire U.S. healthcare system.
Panelist Steve Selebius asked Reid if the U.S. would eventually scrap an insurance-based healthcare system. Reid answered, “Yes, yes. Absolutely, yes.” “What we’ve done with Obamacare is have a step in the right direction, but we’re far from having something that’s going to work forever,” Reid said. “We had a real good run at the public option… Don’t think we didn’t have a tremendous number of people who wanted a single-payer system.”
During the tense Senate negotiations in 2009, independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman told Reid he must abandon plans for expanded Medicare and government insurance, or Lieberman would not vote for the bill. Obamacare eventually passed the Senate 60-39 without a single-payer provision. The new law’s labyrinthine regulations on reporting requirements make compliance a difficult and complicated process. The Obama administration made a unilateral decision on July in to delay the employer mandate portion of the law until 2015, after the midterm elections.
Aug. 9: The Hill: House conservatives to unveil ObamaCare alternative:
The conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) is preparing to unveil legislation that would replace ObamaCare with a new set of healthcare reforms.
A spokesman for RSC Chairman Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) confirmed Friday that members of the group will introduce their measure after the August recess. "Chairman Scalise and the RSC Health Care Working Group are drafting legislation to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with a conservative alternative that fixes the problems in our healthcare system without the harmful taxes and mandates in the President's law," Stephen Bell said in a statement to The Hill. "The timetable for rollout is slated for this fall."
House Republicans have held 40 votes to repeal, defund or dismantle the Affordable Care Act but have struggled to coalesce around an alternative plan. Individual GOP members have introduced their own replacement plans — a new measure from Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) would repeal ObamaCare and enact premium-assisted Medicare, for example — but none have seen much traction in the GOP conference. The forthcoming measure from Scalise and his peers will include protections for people with pre-existing conditions, a key feature of President Obama's law. Bell did not provide more details. The RSC has 173 members, meaning its healthcare bill will have considerable support upon introduction.
Aug. 9: Fox News: Obama defends health care legislation, announces plans to overhaul surveillance programs:
President Obama defended his controversial health care legislation Friday, calling Republican efforts to repeal it an “ideological fixation.” The president made the comments during an hour-long White House press conference where he also said it was a mistake for the GOP to tie funding the government to the healthcare law. “The idea that you would shut down the government unless you prevent 30 million people from getting health care is a bad idea,” Obama said. “What you should be thinking about is how can we advance and improve ways for middle class families to have some security so that if they work hard they can get ahead and their kids can get ahead.”
The president added that Republicans would risk the wrath of the public if they vote to shut down the government this fall in an attempt to cut off funding – a comment that’s not sitting well with some in Washington and which is not accurate because it would be the President vetoing a bill that fully funds the government, but not ObamaCare, that would shut down the government.
“Rather than engage in partisan attacks, President Obama should work with Congress to implement better health care reforms that lower costs, protect jobs and provide better care, as Republicans have consistently offered,” Rory Cooper, the spokesperson for Majority Leader Eric Cantor said in a written statement. “Obamacare increases costs, turns full-time jobs into part-time jobs and reduces the quality of care. President Obama should urge the Senate to pass our bill codifying his desired employer mandate delay which also extends this privilege to every individual citizen.”
The new health care law will require most Americans to have health insurance or face fines. In return, insurers will be barred from turning away people with medical problems. The administration hopes to sign up at least 7 million uninsured people next year. The massive bill has many details still left to be worked out and the sheer logistical complexity has many lawmakers questioning whether Obamacare is the best way to go.
Aug. 7: The Hill: ObamaCare de-funders bank on grassroots support for moving leaders:
Hardcore supporters of an effort to defund ObamaCare are banking on voter outrage over the congressional recess to convince their leaders to adopt the strategy. Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders have been very hesitant to support the idea, as some Republicans argue President Obama will never agree to defund his signature law. Giving into their fears, these opponents warn the effort will end with a government shutdown the White House will blame on Republicans. But those who insist the GOP must do everything it can to defund ObamaCare believe they can still win the day if enough grassroots supporters make their voices heard in the next several weeks.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), one of the handful of House conservatives leading the charge, says that the next five weeks will be key in building support for linking ObamaCare with the must-pass spending bill. “We're going to keep pushing it ... I think that the more support we build up outside will push our leadership to find a route and I think it's possible,” Stutzman was the first House member to state unequivocally that he would oppose a 2014 government funding bill if it fails to defund the president’s signature legislative achievement. Congress must pass a government funding measure or the government will shut down on Oct 1
Aug. 7: Roll Call: GOP Leaders’ Response to Obama Saving Congressional Health Benefits is Subdued:
Republicans usually love to rail against Obamacare, but leaders aren’t talking much about President Barack Obama’s decision to save health benefits for members and their staffs. The Office of Personnel Management confirmed late last week that it would, in the days ahead, issue formal guidance clarifying that members of Congress and their staffs would not lose their health care subsidies under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Administration officials noted that members of both parties had asked the administration to step in, fearing an exodus of top staff if they suddenly had to pay thousands of dollars more out-of-pocket after joining the health exchanges.
GOP leaders are in a tough spot — few on Capitol Hill want to take health benefits away from themselves or their staffs, but the Republican base is dead set against anything Obamacare related, as well as anything that smacks of a special carve out for lawmakers. On Aug. 2, as House Republicans raced down the Capitol steps to begin the August recess, many members offered their thoughts when solicited by reporters. The responses ranged from the poorly-paid Congressional staff to the exorbitant health bills Congressional staff would face, to the Administration’s hypocrisy in sparing “Washington insiders” while expecting everyone else to pay the higher healthcare costs. President Barack Obama did, in fact, indicate a willingness to intervene on behalf of lawmakers and staff after the issue came up at a meeting with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill last week.
Aug. 6: The Hill: Senators build “grassroots army” to push McConnell on ObamaCare:
Senate conservatives are increasing pressure on Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) to use the threat of a government shutdown to defund ObamaCare. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) are spearheading the effort to build a “grassroots army” to influence GOP leadership after entreaties to their colleagues fell short. So far, only 13 Senate Republicans have signed onto a plan to block any stopgap spending measure funding the government beyond Sept. 30 unless it cuts funding for the healthcare law.
Supporters of the push are taking their message directly to the Republican base this month. They are promoting an online petition, that has already gathered 217,578 signatures. Cruz plotted the strategy with conservatives from the Senate and House shortly before Congress left town. “If we see in the next 60 days hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans lighting up the phones, calling their House members, calling up their senators and saying, ‘Stand for principle, this isn’t working, it’s destroying the economy, it’s hurting jobs, it’s destroying healthcare, it’s driving up our premiums, defund it,’ that’s how we win,” Cruz told conservative lawmakers at a recent bicameral meeting.
Aug. 4: The Hill: Republicans flip the script on Obama with populist attacks on healthcare and taxes:
The Republican Party has flipped the script on Democrats by waging a populist assault against President Obama’s recent moves on healthcare and tax reform. Democrats have long portrayed themselves as the defenders of average citizens in their bids for higher taxes on Wall Street and big business. But GOP lawmakers now say they are the ones defending the “little guy” against an Obama administration beholden to corporate interests. Republicans leaders say Obama showed favoritism to business by delaying for one year the mandate that employers provide health insurance, while leaving in place the requirement that individuals obtain coverage.
They’ve adopted a similar criticism of Obama’s “grand bargain” offer for overhauling the corporate tax code. “President Obama said he's interested in tax reform for corporations — but not for families or small businesses. Once again, the president is playing favorites,” the House budget chief, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), wrote in an op-ed for USA Today.
Aug. 3: The Daily Caller: The GOP House is Divided on ObamaCare:
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” So said Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s first Republican president. John Boehner would probably nod in agreement. But Lincoln’s party is today a house divided. One dividing line is an issue that should unite Republicans: Obamacare. Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, a staunch fiscal conservative, calls the campaign to defund Obamacare “dishonest” and “hype.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, leading that campaign, may or may not have labeled Republicans like Coburn “the surrender caucus.” But he did knock House Republicans for “empty, symbolic votes” on Obamacare.
How to bridge this divide? Follow the link for this in depth anaysis and opinion piece.
Aug. 3: The Hill: Senator tears into ObameCare:
Even Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) tore into ObamaCare in the Republican weekly address on Saturday, saying it would result in job losses and shorter workweeks for hourly employees. “ObamaCare is actually discouraging small businesses from creating jobs and hiring new employees,” Collins said. “The law also has perverse incentives for employers to reduce the number of hours that their employees can work.”
Collins cited two thresholds in the law that she says will hurt both workers and employers. The first fines companies of 50 or more employees that fail to provide health insurance to their employees. “If you employ 49 workers, there are no fines,” she said. “But, if you add just one more employee, you’re hit with penalties. These enormous penalties are a real threat to employers who want to add jobs. They are a powerful incentive for employers to refrain from hiring additional workers.”
The second threshold classifies those who work 30 hours or more a week as full-time. “Even worse, under Obamacare, anyone working an average of just 30 hours a week is considered full-time,” she said. “This will only cause some businesses to reluctantly reduce the hours of their workers to fewer than 30 hours per week. Under this troubling trend, more workers will find their hours and their earnings reduced,” she added. “Jobs will be lost. This is especially disturbing as our country is still battling high unemployment.”
Collins touted legislation she introduced to change the definition of “full-time employee” in ObamaCare from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week.
Aug. 2: The Blaze: Update: Guess who’s paying for increased Congressional Staffers’ healthcare insurance premiums?
For months we’ve been hearing from both Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. terrified that the implementation of ObamaCare would decimate their staffs. Some senators and congressmen talked about a serious “brain drain” in Washington when their staff members leave. Congressman John Larson (D-CT), who voted for the health care law, said making the law apply to elected officials and their staffers was "simply not fair." The problem stems from the same issue other Americans have with the looming arrival of Obamacare: insurance premiums set to increase for just about everyone in the country. And people whose employers offer "Cadillac" coverage (like Congress and their staffers receive) will be hit harder.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama met with congressional Democrats to discuss the problem, and reportedly told his team that he was “on it.” Friday morning brings many reports that a deal had been struck. Politico reported that the Office of Personnel Management intends to rule that the government may continue to contribute to the health care premiums of lawmakers and their staff.
 Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas tweeted his response to the news almost immediately:
The ruling means that despite an amendment that made all members of Congress and their staffs subject to the same law they are imposing on the rest of America, they won’t have to pay for it. Instead, taxpayers will be footing the bill.
Before the deal was announced, Thursday night Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that “Members of Congress and their staffs must enroll in health marketplaces as the Affordable Care Act requires.” Pelosi made no mention of the looming Office of Personnel Management deal.
Aug. 2: The Hill: House votes 232-185 to block the IRS from enforcing ObamaCare:
In yet another symbolic vote, the House voted Friday to prevent the IRS from enforcing any aspect of ObamaCare, a bill meant to exact revenge against an agency that Republicans say is incapable of neutral enforcement of the law.
Members approved the Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act in a 232-185 vote. Four Democrats supported the bill along with every Republican. The vote capped off several days of work in the House on bills aimed at reining in government regulation and government overreach.
House Democrats cast the votes as merely for show, given opposition from the White House and the Senate majority. The Obama administration threatened to veto the IRS enforcement bill and said it would undermine the 2010 healthcare law that is aimed at expanding healthcare coverage.
Aug. 1: Fox News: I’ll pass on ObamaCare says IRS chief
Obama, Pelosi, and Reid all promised that ObamaCare would not force people who are happy with their health plans to change. Now there is some debate about that. The head of the agency tasked with enforcing ObamaCare said Thursday that he'd rather not get his own health insurance from the system created by the health care overhaul. "I would prefer to stay with the current policy that I'm pleased with rather than go through a change if I don't need to go through that change," said acting IRS chief Danny Werfel, during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing.
The statement quickly fueled criticism of the law, as well as their calls to block the IRS from enforcing it. "Count the head of the IRS among the growing list of folks that includes Big Labor and the law's chief architect who are deeply skeptical of the president's signature achievement and don't want any part of it," Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, said in a statement. "No American -- even the head of the IRS -- should be subjected to ObamaCare."
Werfel, in his testimony, was trying to address concerns from IRS employees and other federal workers who do not want to be forced into the so-called insurance "exchanges" -- regulated marketplaces where insurance, much of it subsidized, will be sold as early as next year. Rep. Dave Camp, R-MI, has been pushing a bill that would force federal workers into the exchanges, and out of their federal health care plans. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS workers, recently came out against that bill and urged members to oppose it.
July 29: Roll Call: ObamaCare Defunding Fight Could Threaten Boehner Leverage, Message
The effort by conservatives in the House and Senate to threaten a government shutdown over Obamacare could force Speaker into the arms of House Democrats. With 60 Republicans already pushing the Ohio Republican to defund Obamacare in any spending bill, the speaker may not be able to cobble together a House majority on a bill that President Barack Obama would sign without Democratic votes. And he’s not likely to get those votes for free. A dozen Republican senators led by Mike Lee (R-UT) already signed a letter vowing to vote against any continuing resolution that funds Obamacare. And Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana — who helped torpedo GOP leaders’ first attempt at a farm bill — became the first House Republican last week to make the same absolutist pledge. “I’m not going to vote for a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare,” Stutzman said in a July 25 release. “It makes no sense to spend another dime on a failed law that the president has already delayed.”
But senior aides from both sides of the aisle say the threat would surely backfire on Republicans if they carry it out. For one thing, most of Obama’s new health care program is mandatory spending that is not affected by appropriations bills, so it would continue to receive funding in any event. “Even if you shut down the government, Obamacare will continue to be funded, and all you will have accomplished in that scenario is a government shutdown,” a senior Republican appropriations aide said.
July 28: The Hill: Obama: Speeches won’t make Obamacare popular
President Obama said he can't turn around public opinion on his signature healthcare law with a public-relations push, but insisted that the law will be popular once it is fully implemented. Polls show the healthcare law is unpopular, and its approval ratings are falling. Disapproval topped 50 percent in a CBS News poll last week. Obama said in an interview with The New York Times that the law will gain popularity once key provisions take effect next year and people are able to more easily purchase insurance. "But until then, when we’re getting outspent four to one and people are just uncertain about what all this means for them, we’re going to continue to have some polls like that," Obama said. "And me just making more speeches explaining it in and of itself won’t do it. The test of this is going to be is it working. And if it works, it will be pretty darn popular."
The administration has ramped up its public-relations push recently, bringing on new healthcare communications strategists and enlisting celebrities to help encourage people to sign up for new coverage options. Obama has also made three speeches just since May about the law. But he downplayed those efforts in the Times interview, saying full implementation is the real test.
July 28: The Hill: Lee downplays ObamaCare shutdown threat: Government going to get funded:
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on Sunday defended his efforts to block any funding bill that provides money to roll out the president's healthcare reforms and downplayed the chances those efforts could shutdown the government. "We all know the government is going to get funded, the only question is if the government gets funded with ObamaCare or without it," said Lee on “Fox News Sunday.” "If we can delay it, we can stop its consequences at least for now." Lee said he was not calling for a shutdown, given the impossible odds President Obama would sign a bill defunding his signature legislative achievement.
Lee has been working to build support for a Republican effort that would reject any government funding bill that includes funds to implement ObamaCare. But he has faced some difficulty winning over some in his party. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) called it the "dumbest idea I've ever heard of."
Several Republicans who once signed on to Lee's letter laying out his approach have since asked to have their name removed from it. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to back the idea. Lee, though, said the president’ healthcare reforms needed to be stopped and cited a White House decision to delay a key provision as justification. "If the president's not ready to implement the law, if it's not ready for prime time, Congress shouldn't fund it," he said. The White House announced earlier this month it would delay the implementation of a key portion of the law — an employer mandate requiring larger employers to offer health insurances to employees — until 2015.
July 25: The Daily Caller: Conservatives: Defund ObamaCare or shut down the government:
Led by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, a dozen senators sent a letter Thursday saying they will not support any resolution to continue funding the federal government if President Obama’s health-care law remains funded. Under current law, the government is funded until Sept. 30, meaning a continuing resolution needs to be passed to keep the government from shutting down. “The Obama Administration’s recent decision to delay Obamacare’s employer mandate and eligibility verification for the individual exchanges is further proof the law is a failure that will inevitably hurt businesses, American families, and the economy,” Lee said. “In light of this admission, I and several of my colleagues will be informing Sen. Reid that we will not vote for a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare,” he added.
Among those who signed onto the letter: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Over in the House, a large contingent of House Republicans are pushing a similar strategy, led by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina. Congressman Meadows is leading a letter, currently co-signed by 66 Members, encouraging House leadership to defund Obamacare through the appropriations process,” spokeswoman Emily Miller told The Daily Caller on Thursday. But in the House they had this opportunity earlier this year but failed to take it.
July 23: Roll Call | The Hill: Obamacare or Government Shutdown? That’s the question:
If some get their way, what the House failed to do earlier this year may happen in the Senate! Perhaps someone really is reading what we post on this Website! The action we proposed for the House back on February 6th may be gaining ground in the Senate as we approach funding federal agencies while defunding ObamaCare.
With the new fiscal year starting 10 weeks from today, and the budget process on a collision course with total impasse, it was only a matter of time before talks of a government shutdown would bubble to the Capitol surface. But the latest threat from Sen. Mike Lee is creating a new avenue for melodrama in the process. The Utah Republican says he has already signed up 13 fellow fiscal conservatives for his campaign to prevent enactment of any spending measures that permit the government to spend money implementing Obamacare. And he’s promising he’ll searching for more budget hawks, on both sides of the Capitol, to join his cause. “If Republicans in both houses simply refuse to vote for any continuing resolution that contains further funding for further enforcement of Obamacare, we can stop it,” Lee said Monday on Fox News. “We can stop the individual mandate from going into effect.”
Lee described the coming continuing resolution as the last available legislative vehicle for thwarting the health care law, because the requirement that most people carry insurance or pay a fine will go into effect soon thereafter. Ultimately, he could pull off his effort with the support of only 26 more senators beyond the group he says he’s already lined up. Whether that’s a tall order or not will depend on what percentage of the chamber’s 46 Republicans, virtually all of whom have gone on record in favor of repealing the 2010 health care overhaul, are prepared to declare that effort so important that it’s worth preventing continued routine government operations after Oct. 1.
Lee was not the only Republican to talk of a government shutdown Monday. But the other prominent warning, from the office Speaker John A. Boehner, took a very different tack from Lee’s offensive move. Boehner’s spokesman Brendan Buck shifted the potential blame well ahead of time to President Barack Obama. Buck said the White House has issued a series of statements declaring the president “would not sign any spending bills this year unless sequestration spending cuts are eliminated — and replaced with his plan for higher, job-destroying taxes.” Such a refusal to turn those bills into law, Buck added, “of course, would mean an unavoidable government shutdown.”
July 23: The Hill: Heritage Action backs spending bill threat to stop ObamaCare:
An conservative advocacy group on Tuesday endorsed using the threat of a government shutdown to defund ObamaCare. Heritage Action on Tuesday goaded lawmakers to support House and Senate bills to defund the healthcare law, and urged them to link the measures to "must-pass" legislation, such as a bill to fund the government. Proponents of the plan argue that it's the only way to kill the Affordable Care Act before the law's major provisions take effect next year. "If Congress chooses not to fund ObamaCare activities for the upcoming fiscal year, the Obama administration cannot act to implement the law," Heritage Action stated in a memo.
The group said it will keep count of all members who co-sponsor legislation from Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to defund the healthcare law. This process is sometimes called "scoring" or "key voting." It provides an easy way for pressure groups to see which members support their priorities — and determine who deserves backing during the next election. Conservative legislative scorecards have become particularly influential as Tea Party challengers seek to unseat Republican lawmakers. At this stage, Heritage Action plans only to tally the names of members who co-sponsor the Graves and Cruz bills. The group made clear that it will disapprove of lawmakers who do not join efforts to defund ObamaCare in "must-pass" legislation, but will not list who those members are at this point. The threat of a government shutdown over ObamaCare is growing more likely as Senate Republicans, including two members of the leadership team, increasingly support the plan.
July 21: The Hill: Obama tried to regain ObamaCare edge after mandate delay setback:
The White House is working to get back on offense in the debate over ObamaCare, after a surprise delay in part of the implementation knocked its message off course. The problem for Obama is that his administration has already blown through some key implementation deadlines, including its recent decision to delay for a year the law’s employer mandate. Before announcing the delay, the White House had settled into a narrative that seemed to be working relatively well. As Republicans criticized the healthcare law, Democrats stuck to a mantra that sought to legitimize as much as promote it. The standard line from Obama and his allies was that the law had been passed by Congress, signed by the president, upheld by the Supreme Court, and then affirmed again by Obama’s reelection.
But the decision to delay the employer mandate cut against that narrative of inevitability, allowing Republicans to argue that the law is collapsing on its own — and creating a double standard that rewarded business at the expense of individuals and families. "The law isn't wonderful, it's a train wreck, and you know it, I know it, and the American people know it," Speaker John Boehner said this past week. "Even the president knows it, that's why he proposed delaying this mandate on employers."
July 21: The Hill: Boehner promises more House votes to derail ObamaCare implementation:
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) vowed Sunday to hold more House votes to thwart ObamaCare, a major priority for the GOP as the law is implemented. "You're going to see a lot more," Boehner told CBS's "Face the Nation." "You're going to see bipartisan votes coming out of the House to derail this thing. The House has voted nearly 40 times to defund, dismantle or repeal the healthcare law, mainly symbolic votes since the Harry Reid-controlled Senate has refused to give them consideration. But even so, in the House, there has been some Democrat support as of late.
Boehner warned that some Democrats are beginning to conclude that the healthcare law is not viable. "The Democratic senators know this law is unworkable," Boehner said. "They know it's not ready … they know it's a train wreck. I wouldn't be so quick to say they're never going to take this up." The speaker also called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to allow the bills delaying the employer and individual mandates to come to the floor. The Obama administration is racing to meet several key deadlines in ObamaCare's enactment, including the opening of the insurance exchanges for enrollment on Oct. 1.
July 20: The Hill: GOP urges Senate to delay ObamaCare’s individual mandate:
House Republicans on Saturday called on the Senate to vote to delay ObamaCare's individual mandate since businesses will not be required to provide healthcare coverage until 2015. Reps. Todd Young (R-IN) and Tim Griffin (R-AR), sponsors of a bill to delay the mandate that passed the House on Wednesday, delivered the weekly GOP address.
Young and Griffin accused Democrats and the White House of ignoring the needs of individuals by opposing their legislation. "Many Democrats voted to stand with big business and against fairness for individuals and families," said Young. "President Obama threatened to veto our proposals altogether. We take that to mean he thinks it's fair to let businesses off the hook while leaving middle-class families in harm's way." Griffin told the story of a "21-year old Hispanic-American who runs a small business in my district" who says he cannot hire more workers because "ObamaCare makes him choose between new, higher insurance premiums or hefty fines." Republicans have stepped up their criticism of the healthcare law since July 2, when the Treasury Department announced the delay of the employer mandate. The policy requires businesses of 50 or more workers to provide health insurance, and involves an elaborate reporting system. Administration officials said their deferral responded to requests from business for more time to understand that system.
July 19: Fox News: Judge grants exemption for Hobby Lobby in ObamaCare challenge:
Hobby Lobby Inc. was given a temporary exemption Friday from a requirement in the new federal health care law to offer insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency birth control methods or face steep fines. Hobby Lobby Inc. was given a temporary exemption Friday from a requirement in the new federal health care law to offer insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency birth control methods or face steep fines. U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton issued the preliminary injunction for the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain and stayed the case until Oct. 1 to give the federal government time to consider filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Heaton, who rejected the companies' request to block the mandate in November, issued the injunction less than a month after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the companies were likely to prevail in the case. Heaton ruled last month that the company would not be subject to fines of up to $1.3 million a day for not offering the birth control methods.
The ruling was welcomed by the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby and its sister company, the Mardel Christian bookstore chain. Attorneys for the Green family have argued that their religious beliefs are so deeply rooted that having to provide every form of birth control would violate their conscience. "We're just very excited. This is a great step for us," Hobby Lobby president Steve Green said. Members of the Green family say they believe life begins at conception, and oppose birth control methods that can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus, such as an intrauterine device or forms of emergency contraception. The company offers 16 other forms of birth control mentioned in the federal health care law in its health insurance plans.
"To offer prescriptions that take life is not an option for us," said Green, who attended Friday's hearing with other family members and supporters.
July 17: The Daily Caller: House Votes to Delay ObamaCare Individual Mandate Implementation:
The House voted Wednesday to delay implementation of the individual mandate in ObamaCare until 2015. Twenty-two Democrats joined almost all Republicans in approving the bill 251-174. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) was the sole Republican to oppose the bill. The vote follows an announcement from the White House two weeks ago that it would delay implementation of the employer mandate, which would penalize businesses that did not provide health insurance for their employees until 2015. The announcement sparked renewed vocal fervor among Republicans for doing away with the law entirely. “I think what the president did is outrageous,” Speaker of the House John Boehner said last week, saying the President was favoring big business over individuals and families by delaying only the employer mandate and not the individual mandate.
The House also voted in favor of delaying the employer mandate. No further movement on the issue is expected over this largely symbolic move since the Democrat-controlled Senate is unlikely to take up the bill.
July 17: Roll Call: More on the ObamaCare Vote in the House – Political posturing for Democrats:
An unusually stern veto threat by President Barack Obama — aimed at a bill codifying his own administration’s health policy — has sparked incredulity from the GOP but may help rank-and-file Democrats faced with a political dilemma. Reporters say the GOP was hoping to trap House Democrats into voting for Obama’s decision to delay the employer health insurance mandate for a year and then against delaying the individual mandate the administration still plans to enforce. As Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) put it to a Treasury official at a Ways and Means Committee hearing Wednesday morning, why are business owners like Warren Buffett getting a break, but Joe Sixpack isn’t?
But Obama threatened to veto both bills, and the threat was of the “would veto” variety rather than the weasel-worded “would recommend” version. The only reason for the veto threat on the employer mandate delay was that the bill was “unnecessary.” That brought a swift reaction from the GOP. “There is no rational explanation,” said Brendan Buck, spokesman for Speaker Boehner (R-OH). “They are simply against everything we do, no matter if it’s the president’s own policy. I would love for you to ascertain one.” An aide to Majority Leader Cantor (R-VA) added “Either they are so arrogant to believe they can unilaterally determine which laws to follow or they’re full-time residents of Bizarro World.” Republicans and some legal scholars have ripped the administration for what they consider to be a disturbing trend where the President decides which laws to enforce and which ones to ignore.
July 14: The Daily Caller: Cruz tries to defund Obamacare, slams President for playing 2014 politics:
Ted Cruz has introduced a bill in the Senate to defund Obamacare and slammed President Obama for revising his health-care policy strategy in order to win the 2014 midterm elections. Cruz is currently spearheading the Defund Obamacare Act of 2013, which has little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate. Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Graves introduced the bill in the House, marking the fourth time that Graves has introduced the Defund Obamacare Act. Graves’ first three attempts to pass the bill, the most recent of which came in March, all failed. Republicans in the Senate minority, realizing that efforts to defund Obamacare hinge on the outcome of the 2014 elections, when 33 Senate seats will be up for grabs, are now ramping up their rhetoric and testing out their political clout.
July 14: Fox News: House to vote on ObamaCare, says delay of employer mandate is unfair:
House Republicans will vote this week to delay the part of ObamaCare requiring Americans to buy health insurance by next year, arguing that President Obama recently delaying the part of the law requiring employers to offer health insurance is a corporate favor that slights struggling, average Americans. In announcing the vote last week, House Speaker John Boehner said the Republican-controlled chamber also will vote to delay the so-called employer mandate because such decisions require congressional authority, then rattled off a list of reasons why delaying only the employer mandate is unfair. “If you’re a software company making billions in profits, you’re exempt from ObamaCare next year,” he said Friday. “But if you’re a 28-year-old struggling to pay-off your student loans, you’re not. … Is it fair for the president to give American businesses an exemption from his health law’s mandates without giving the same break to the rest of America? Hell no.”
The full House vote could come as early as Wednesday and will be on bills that originated last week in the House Ways and Means Committee, a staff member told FoxNews.com on Sunday. The bills attempt to delay the implementation of the individual and the employer mandate, which earlier this month Obama postponed until after the 2014 elections. Though political analysts argued the White House delayed the complicated and confusing mandate to in part take away a hammer from Republicans during the midterm elections, party members have instead stepped up their argument that the president’s signature health-care law is expensive and unworkable. “The White House may believe it can unilaterally delay implementation of ObamaCare’s employer mandate, but only Congress can change the law,” said Congressman Tim Griffin (R-AZ), who sponsored one of the two new House bills.
He also said the companion bill by Congressman Todd Young (R-IN) that delays the individual mandate, also until 2015, protects average Americans from ObamaCare’s “job-crushing provisions,” as the president delaying the employer mandate did for businesses and labor unions. As noted in earlier reports about House votes to repeal ObamaCare, this vote will be largely symbolic since the chances of the Senate is unlikely to consider it.
July 14: The Daily Caller:
White House holds Obamacare background briefing with liberal reporters, The Daily Caller not invited!
The White House held a background briefing Friday to discuss Obamacare implementation with a handful of journalists from liberal and progressive outlets. Slate blogger Matthew Yglesias posted a photograph to Instagram Friday featuring himself and other liberal journalists at the White House, with the caption “#thistown.” Yglesias’ photograph features American Prospect staff writer Jamelle Bouie and MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin attending the briefing.
July 10: The Daily Caller:
Krauthammer: Not enforcing ObamaCare employer mandate is “unconstitutional”
On Tuesday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer called President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care reform law a "bait and switch" and said the administration’s recent move to delay the employer mandate is unconstitutional. Elaborating on a claim he made earlier in the week, Krauthammer explained that the postponement of certain provisions of the law — including the delay until 2015 of the requirements that employers provide coverage to employees and that beneficiaries show proof of income — creates more problems. “Look, the promise of this president was Obamacare won’t cost a penny now,” Krauthammer said. “Anybody who’s got a mind would understand if you’re going to give health care to 30 million people who haven’t had it — there is no free lunch. But he kept pretending and they kept putting provisions in the law that would make the CBO create estimates on these provisions that would show that it would pay for itself. Now a lot of them have already been completely discounted. Now, one of them is this employer mandate. That was supposed to be a source of revenue. Well lo and behold we’re not going to have that.”
The administration announced early this week that it would also suspend a requirement that people seeking taxpayer-subsidized health care prove financial need. This change is said to make it easier for those in need of subsidies to purchase health insurance at exchanges created by the law, but Krauthammer pointed out that it is an open invitation to fraud. “There have been other elements of the law,” he continued. “For example, if you want to be eligible for the government subsidies of this health insurance from the exchanges you have to prove that you’re eligible. Well that was tossed out last week as well. So, on one side we’re getting less revenue. On the other side we’re going to get huge amounts of waste and fraud. We know the costs are escalating. And we know it’s going to cost a fortune to the Treasury and we’re going to have to raise taxes and that’s the bait and switch.”
Krauthammer went on to speculate the “mathematically impossible” law would lead to a hike in taxes and perhaps even a valued-added tax. But he added that it is unconstitutional for the Obama administration to announce it is not going to enforce a key provision of an existing law — the employer mandate provision.
“Of course it’s unconstitutional,” he said. “The Constitution says the executive has to faithfully execute the laws and here it is faithfully ignoring a law it doesn’t like in the same way it wantonly passed the DREAM Act unilaterally — an act that the Congress had rejected. It is absolutely lawless in the things it does. This is only the latest example.”
July 10: Politico: ObamaCare Doesn’t Work and Can’t Work – Repeal and Reform Needed
Business owners across America breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when the Obama administration announced it would grant them a one-year reprieve from some of Obamacare’s most onerous rules. It was cold comfort, though, to millions of individuals and families whose concerns about the impact of the Affordable Care Act continue to be ignored by the White House. Addressing the concerns of some while ignoring those of others won’t solve the problems ordinary Americans will face as a result of this law. It will magnify them. That’s why, ultimately, the only solution to the burdens of Obamacare is a permanent delay in the form of a full repeal, which would clear the path for reforms that actually lower costs and improve the quality of care. The good news is that while the administration hasn’t publicly admitted it yet, last week’s announcement is further proof that some of the law’s biggest backers are starting to realize how unworkable Obamacare truly is. A few months after one of the law’s chief architects in the Senate predicted an implementation “train wreck,” administration officials are now tacitly admitting as much by giving businesses — and Washington bureaucrats — another year to figure it all out.
But the obvious problem with the band-aid approach is that without full repeal, there will never be an end to the number of problems that need to be fixed. That’s the nature of a law that runs 2,700 pages in length, has spawned more than 20,000 pages of regulations (so far) and has authorized the creation of, at last count, 159 bureaucratic agencies, boards and programs.
July 9: Fox News: GOP to Obama: ObamaCare Delay for Business is unfair to everyone else:
House Republican leaders on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to grant everybody a reprieve from the ObamaCare insurance mandate, suggesting the recent decision to delay only the requirement on businesses would be unfair to everyone else. "We agree with you that the burden was overwhelming for employers, but we also believe American families need the same relief," House Speaker John Boehner and several other top Republicans wrote in a letter to President Obama.
They addressed what is becoming a mounting concern over the administration's decision to delay, until 2015, a requirement that large employers provide health insurance to workers.
The administration, in announcing the change, kept in place the requirement on individuals -- known as the individual mandate -- to obtain insurance. Critics argue that the selective delay will force even more people -- who would have otherwise gotten insurance through their jobs -- to go in search of insurance on the individual market or face a fine. The delay potentially means more people will be buying insurance out of their own pocket, buying insurance with the help of additional taxpayer subsidies or just opting out and being charged with a hefty fine by the government. Republicans asked Obama for a detailed breakdown on how the delay of the employer mandate would affect all these aspects -- how it would increase the cost of subsidies, and how it would increase the number of individuals expected to pay a fine. "We recognize that the decision to delay the employer mandate was likely not a decision you made in only a day and necessarily required substantial review by analysts" at various departments, they wrote. "Your decision to delay one part of the law affecting employers and leave in place provisions regulating individual and family health care creates many new questions and concerns."
July 7: The Hill: TEA Party groups launch $1 Million about ObamaCare:
The Tea Party-affiliated group Americans for Prosperity is launching a $1 million ad campaign opposing ObamaCare. The move comes as the administration is ramping up its own efforts to enroll the public in the new insurance exchanges and as Democrats express concerns that a botched rollout could hurt their 2014 election chances. The group plans to start with an initial investment of $700,000 on television and web ads including a website that provides a calculator for people to figure out what the law might cost them personally. Americans for Prosperity says the ad is in response to advertising touting the president’s healthcare reform law from groups including the pro-Obama Organizing for Action. "With so much disinformation out there, we felt it was extremely important to educate those who are most likely to suffer negative effects under ObamaCare, and help keep them informed and prepared," AFP President Tim Phillips said in a statement to The Hill.
July 5: Roll Call: Obama Skips Past Congress Again with Health Care Mandate Delay:
President Barack Obama’s latest legal end run around Congress — delaying enforcement of the employer health mandate — has sparked more questions about whether he’s abusing his executive discretion under the Constitution. The move announced late Tuesday was the latest in a string of decisions where the president, facing a divided Congress unable to get much done beyond keeping the government running, has taken matters into his own hands. Where a previous president might have asked for a legislative fix if a mandate was proving too onerous for business, the Obama administration put out a couple of blog posts saying that, in listening to the business community, it decided not to enforce a key part of the 3-year-old health law for another year.
A Treasury official said the administration has “longstanding administrative authority to grant transition relief when implementing new legislation like the ACA.” But three House committees are already looking into the decision, with Republicans complaining about a disturbing trend where the president decides which laws to enforce and which to ignore. Issa (R-CA) House Government Reform Chair, called the decision “another in a string of extra legal actions” taken by Obama. “As a former constitutional law teacher, President Obama must know that this action gets into very questionable constitutional territory,” Issa said in a statement to CQ Roll Call. “It also paves the way for future administrations to simply not enforce parts of Obamacare they don’t believe are functioning well.” Kevin Brady (R-TX) chair of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee has scheduled July 10th hearings on the issue while Phil Roe (R-TN) has asked Chair of another subcommittee has asked the Congressional Research Service to investigate the legality of what the Obama Administration is doing. Meanwhile Steve King (R-IA) said “If President Obama wants to make changes to Obamacare, he must come to Congress. ... We are a nation governed by laws written by Congress, not memos and blog posts written by bureaucrats.”
July 5: Politico: White House Greases Squeaky Wheels: ObamaCare
The delay of Obamacare’s employer coverage rules is giving the critics plenty of new ammunition — but that doesn’t mean the sudden movement is out of character for this administration. It’s just the latest example of a pattern with the implementation of Obamacare: The Obama administration almost always listens to the squeaky wheel. First more than 1,200 employers and health plans got waivers from early coverage rules. Next, many states that couldn’t decide whether to build a health insurance exchange or let the feds do it for them were given repeated extensions. And then, when Republican governors were holding out on expanding Medicaid, they were finally told there’s no deadline at all.
So when the Obama administration announced this week that it would delay the Affordable Care Act’s insurance mandate for employers for a year, it was just one more piece of evidence that the administration is perfectly willing to bend the rules for some powerful interests — a welcome invitation for other players to raise their hands in the coming months as the law heads into overdrive. Already, other groups are grumbling at the decision: Hospitals, for example, who are worried that the delay means they won’t have as many newly insured patients as they’d expected. Hospitals have a vested interest in that coverage — because they’re facing a round of cuts in payments for the cost of treating uninsured patients. So they’re pushing for — you guessed it — a delay in those cuts. Labor unions, a major ally of the Administration has dropped a strong hint that the unions want the same kind of attention that the businesses got.
All this begs the questions: Are we a nations of Laws or of whims? What are we going to do about the disaster called Obamacare?
July 3: The Hill: GOP questions legality of ObamaCare business mandate delay:
Republicans on Wednesday questioned whether the administration has the legal authority to delay the employer mandate under ObamaCare.
Two top GOP lawmakers expressed doubts that federal officials have the authority to defer major parts of ObamaCare without approval from Congress.
Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), chairman of the Education and Workforce Health subcommittee, said he would launch his own investigation into the matter. "This action raises a lot of questions about whether the Obama administration can simply ignore the law when it’s convenient for them," Roe said in a statement Wednesday.
"I have asked Congress’s research arm to investigate because I don’t think any president has the authority to pick and choose what parts of law to follow," he added.
The Obama administration announced Tuesday night that it would put off enforcing the employer mandate until 2015 rather than next year.
The rule requires that businesses with more than 50 employees provide health insurance or pay fines. It had been criticized by the business community as onerous and hastily implemented.
Groups representing employers cheered the development on Tuesday, and Republican lawmakers welcomed the news as evidence that the healthcare law is unworkable.
Roe and House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) indicated Republicans would pursue questions about the legality of the move. "It is unclear that [President Obama] has the authority to do this without Congress," Issa said in a statement Tuesday night.
July 3: Fox News: Will Americans really be able to keep their current health coverage in 2014?
When President Obama enacted his landmark health-care reform, he promised Americans that if “you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan.” But consumers across the country--particularly those in California -- are increasingly finding out that this may not be the case. UnitedHealthcare (NYSE: UNH) announced this week it will stop selling individual policies in California—the second major carrier to leave the state’s exchange California Covered.
Michael Cannon, director of Health Policy Studies at the CATO Institute, says the trend of insurers exiting markets is picking up speed, with companies already leaving in California, Washington, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. “These price controls, which require insurance companies to sell to consumers of any age, for the same premium, regardless of health status, triggers an adverse selection death spiral,” he says. Companies including, Aetna (NYSE: AET), Cigna Corp. and now UnitedHealthcare are leaving markets, but it’s them choosing one market over another, Cannon explains: it’s more about realizing where they cannot make money in individual markets.
July 2: The Hill: Cantor: “Best delay for ObamaCare is a permanent one”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said Tuesday that the "best delay for ObamaCare is a permanent one," shortly after news broke that the Obama administration was delaying a key provision of the Affordable Care Act." This further confirms that even the proponents of ObamaCare know it will hurt jobs, decrease economic growth and make it harder for families to have access to quality and affordable health care," Cantor said. "Rather than continuing to delay the predictable pain until another election day has passed, we should scrap this entire law and instead implement patient-centered reforms before any more damage is done to our economy or the health care families depend on."
Congressional Republicans were crowing Tuesday over the decision to delay a mandate requiring businesses to provide their workers with health insurance, or else face a fine. The White House said that by delaying the requirement until 2015, it would give more businesses time to figure out the complex reporting requirements mandated by the law. But Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said in a statement that the move was a "clear acknowledgment that the law is unworkable, and it underscores the need to repeal the law and replace it with effective, patient-centered reforms. The president's health care law is already raising costs and costing jobs. This announcement means even the Obama administration knows the 'train wreck' will only get worse," Boehner said. Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Boehner, called the move "a swift punch in the gut for Obamacare advocates."
July 2: Politico: Key Obamacare rule for business delayed for a year:
The Obama administration is postponing the federal health care law’s insurance mandate for employers next year, in a major concession to the business community and lawmakers who have become increasingly vocal about the law’s potential to damage a slowly recovering economy. But in reality, this may also be a political decision that allows the pain of this provision of the law to hit after the 2014 midterm elections.
The announcement doesn’t affect the main coverage tools in the law — the individual mandate and the new subsidized insurance markets. But it could boost the cost of the law if more people end up seeking subsidies instead of getting covered on the job.
The delay, revealed just as the administration was stepping up efforts to educate the public about enrollment this fall, is at least partial proof of what Republicans have been predicting for months: that the health law is way too complex to be ready to go live in 2014. And that’s a message that may well resonate all through next year.
“Obamacare costs too much and it isn’t working the way the administration promised,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said after Treasury announced the one-year delay. “And while the White House seems to slowly be admitting what Americans already know, and what I hear consistently in my travels around Kentucky regarding the regulatory burden on employers, the fact remains that Obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced with common-sense reforms that actually lower costs for Americans.”
July 2: The Daily Caller: 58,000 Californians to lose their current health insurance due to Obamacare:
The nation’s largest health insurance company has decided to stop covering individuals in the nation’s largest state. UnitedHealth Group Inc. said that it will not participate in California’s individual health insurance market beginning Jan. 1, 2014, when Obamacare regulations will take effect, according to the Los Angeles Times. Last month, insurance giant Aetna also announced that it will no longer cover individual Californians. Together, the companies’ decision to stop providing individual coverage will affect 58,000 existing customers in California. The move is a result of new Affordable Care Act requirements for insurance companies to accept all applicants for individual coverage, including those with preexisting conditions. The law also requires insurers provide a bevy of new benefits for their customers. Problems with implementing the health care law have plagued the Obama administration, despite the president’s oft-repeated assurances that “if you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan.”
UnitedHealth’s announcements last month that it will participate in only twelve state exchanges beginning in January has sparked concerns about whether the insurance markets will be competitive enough for the health care law to work. Both companies will continue to offer health insurance in California through employers, but this may not be a relief to everyone. Employer insurance coverage has been a sticky issue during the planning stages of Obamacare. The health care law includes an employer mandate that requires companies with 50 or more full time employees to provide health insurance or to pay a penalty — but defines “full-time” as 30 hours per week. Many companies have introduced plans to reduce employees’ maximum hours to 29 per week in response.
June 28: The New York Times: Contraceptives Stay Covered in Health Bill:
Despite strong resistance from religious organizations, the Obama administration said Friday that it was moving ahead with a rule requiring most employers to provide free insurance coverage of contraceptives for women, a decision that has touched off a legal and political battle likely to rage for another year. The final rule, issued under the new health care law, adopts a simplified version of an approach proposed by the government in February to balance the interests of women with the concerns of the Roman Catholic Church and other employers with religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptives.
After considering comments, administration officials refused to budge on the basic principle. The rule, they said, is very similar to their proposal. An exemption is included for churches. But many Catholic hospitals, schools, universities and other religious institutions will have to take steps so that coverage is available to employees and their dependents. The issue figured prominently in last year’s elections as President Obama and other Democrats pressed their advantage with female voters. At the same time, Catholic bishops waged a national campaign arguing that the federal policy infringed on religious freedom and violated the church’s social and moral teachings on birth control and abortion. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the group was reviewing the final rule.
June 28: The Daily Caller:
Obama Administration issues final rules on contraception mandate for religious organizations:
The Obama administration released its final rules Friday on the religious exemption from the contraception coverage requirement under Obamacare. Under the final rule, houses of worship are exempt from the mandate requiring their health plans cover birth control for their female employees and dependents. Under the accommodation the religious nonprofits may tell their insurance provider they object and the insurance provider may provide contraception coverage separately to the women at no charge.
One of the major critics of the mandate was quick to rebuke the final rule, saying that they will have to decide the issue in court. “Unfortunately the final rule announced today is the same old, same old. As we said when the proposed rule was issued, this doesn’t solve the religious conscience problem because it still makes our non-profit clients the gatekeepers to abortion and provides no protection to religious businesses,” Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said in a statement. “The easy way to resolve this would have been to exempt sincere religious employers completely, as the Constitution requires.”
June 28: Fox News: Health Care independence – Really? (Video)
Interview on Fox News’ Your World discusses Obamacare. We are moving from 88% coverage, trying to get to 95% while many companies are reducing employee hours so they can drop the health care coverage they currently have due to the increased costs under Obamacare. At the same time we are starting to see a doctor shortages which means that people will not have care available to them.
June 28: The Hill: GOP Senators warm sports leagues against promoting Obamacare
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) warned six professional sports leagues on Friday not to promote ObamaCare or partner with the Obama administration on efforts concerning the law. In letters to the leagues released Friday, McConnell and Cornyn cited an announcement by federal Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that she is in talks with the NFL, the NBA and others about campaigns to educate the public about healthcare reform.
McConnell and Cornyn warned NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his peers that launching such campaigns would damage their leagues' reputations. "It is difficult for us to remember another occasion when [a] major sports league took public sides in such a highly polarized public debate," the lawmakers wrote. "Given the divisiveness and persistent unpopularity of this bill, it is difficult to understand why an organization like yours would risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand by lending its name to its promotion."
The letter comes just after Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), head of the conservative Republican Study Committee, told the NFL and NBA not to do Sebelius's "dirty work."
June 28: The Daily Caller: NFL says it has no plans to support Obamacare:
The National Football League said Friday that it has no plans to get involved in promoting Obamacare. In an email to the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein NFL Spokesman Brian McCarthy said that the league has responded to the concerns voiced by lawmakers about the potential that the NFL could begin pushing the new health insurance plans soon to be available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. “We have responded to the letters we received from members of Congress to inform them we currently have no plans to engage in this area and have had no substantive contact with the administration about PPACA’s implementation,” McCarthy emailed. In recent days the administration revealed they were in talks with professional sports leagues like the NFL and National Basketball Association to help recruit young people to enroll in the new Obamacare plans.
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