Blog: Since Returning to Congress, I've Consistently Supported Measures to Repeal Obamacare. Yesterday, I Voted Yet Again to Repeal Key Provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Statement

Since returning to Congress, I've consistently supported measures to repeal Obamacare. Yesterday, I voted yet again to repeal key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but this time was different in that it marks the first time a bill to repeal Obamacare will move through the House and the Senate and make it the president's desk.

Milton Friedman noted the importance of judging public policy by its results rather than its intentions. Obamacare has failed on many fronts, but I thought I'd share a few.

In terms of affordability, Obamacare has bent the cost curve in the wrong direction. In the last year alone, monthly premiums have risen 15% in South Carolina for new plans purchased via the online exchange, and an article inThe Post and Courier earlier this week noted projections estimating health insurance premiums will rise by 61% in the next decade.

Additionally, I've heard from many small business owners who are stifled by the rules and regulations mandating employer coverage: new stores aren't being opened, business isn't being expanded, new hires aren't being made. While bigger businesses can adapt more easily, it's the small and medium-sized businesses that are taking the biggest hit. In 2009, Nancy Pelosi promised 4 million new jobs with the full implementation of Obamacare, yet the latest Congressional Budget Office study predicts that the employer mandate could cost the economy the equivalent of 2 million jobs.

While people and businesses are struggling to pay high insurance premiums to comply with Obamacare, the federal government is still spending huge amounts of money to fund programs under the law. When the 2,700 page bill was introduced to Congress in 2009, the president estimated the plan would cost about $900 billion over ten years. However, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that Obamacare will cost taxpayers roughly $2 trillion between now and 2025. If this bill were to become law, it would help taxpayers by reducing the deficit by $516 billion over the next ten years and would chip away at our growing $18.8 trillion national debt.

When Obamacare was signed into law nearly six years ago, it marked the first time in our history that the federal government forced citizens to purchase a private product. This was a frightening precedent in 2010, and it is even more frightening when you take into account the growing cost the law has on individuals, businesses, and the economy as a whole.

I've heard from a lot of people around the Lowcountry over the past couple of years who are growing more and more frustrated with the president's healthcare law. While there are a whole host of problems with the law, the few I outlined were enough for me to cast another vote to repeal Obamacare.

Source