Hatch Statement on Senate’s Effort to Repeal & Replace Obamacare
WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) issued the following statement today regarding the Senate’s efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare:
Over the past few months I've worked assiduously on a number of good-faith attempts to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something that works better for the people of Utah who have been hurt by this fundamentally flawed law. It is deeply regrettable that the Senate was unable to come together to legislate, to focus on the art of the doable, and to keep our promise.
We know what comes next: average premiums will continue to skyrocket; individuals and families may have few, if any, available health insurance options, yet will face penalties if they don’t buy insurance; and more government interventions will be necessary to stave off crises in the individual market. Our failure today takes us one step closer to what I’ve long warned of: a socialized healthcare system run by the federal government.
Moving forward, I will continue my efforts to replace this flawed law with patient-centered reforms that will actually improve the healthcare system for all Americans.
Background: Hatch, a long-time opponent of Obamacare, has introduced legislation to fully repeal both the individual and employer mandates included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Last Congress, he successfully fought to have some of the most egregious parts of Obamacare delayed. Hatch’s bill, which included a provision to suspend Obamacare’s 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices through 2018, was signed into law in December 2015. He also worked with his colleagues in Congress to enact a package that delayed the 40 percent excise tax on high-cost insurance plans, known at the “Cadillac tax,” until 2020, and provided a moratorium on the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) for 2017. Hatch is also the coauthor of the Patient CARE Act, a legislative plan that repeals Obamacare and replaces it with cost-addressing measures, with Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich).
