Employee Health Care Protection Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3522, the Employee Health Care Protection Act.

I would like to begin with the words President Obama first said to the American Medical Association in June of 2009 before any committee in Congress held a markup of what later became the Affordable Care Act. He said to that group of physicians, and repeated on many occasions after that:

If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away from you, no matter what.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, like many assurances that were delivered to the American people about the President's health care law, this has been nothing more than an empty promise. Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, millions have been notified their insurance plans have been canceled.

I commend Chairman Pitts of the Health Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce for holding numerous hearings to examine this very issue. That is precisely why we need to pass H.R. 3522. Mr. Speaker, this commonsense legislation would simply allow health insurance companies to continue to offer group coverage that was in effect in 2013.

I commend our physician colleague from Louisiana, Dr. Cassidy, for his leadership on this legislation.

If the President will not keep his promise to the American people that ``if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan,'' then we need to do it for him. H.R. 3522 accomplishes that goal.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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