CQ Roll Call - House Republican Panels to Probe Delayed Health Care Law Provision

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By Melissa Attias

The Obama administration's authority to delay enforcement of an employer provision in the health care law for one year will face scrutiny Wednesday when a House panel holds a hearing on the issue.

The hearing, scheduled by the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, gives Republicans a platform to challenge the legality of the decision and renew their push for repealing President Barack Obama's signature law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152).

In a memo outlining the July agenda, Majority Leader Eric Cantor said House leaders are exploring what steps they will take in light of the delay. "We will also consider options moving forward on Obamacare now that the administration delayed the employer mandate," the Virginia Republican wrote.

Republican lawmakers have seized on the delay, which was announced by a top Treasury Department official in a July 2 blog post, to renew their attacks on the health care overhaul. They also contend that the delay raises broader questions about whether the administration has been fully forthcoming to Congress about how implementation of the law is proceeding.

"I want to know why, after repeated assurances that everything was on track and that no more deadlines would be missed, that the administration has taken this action," Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in a written statement announcing the hearing. "It is time for the administration to explain to the American people why it's acceptable to grant this delay while at the same time taking no action whatsoever to provide any relief from the individual mandate."

Under the delayed provision, employers with 50 or more full-time employees are generally required to pay a penalty if they do not offer health insurance to those workers. While slated to take effect in 2014, enforcement will now be put off until 2015.

The hearing will explore the factors that caused the administration to delay enforcement of the employer provision. Lawmakers also will examine what authority the Treasury Department "is relying on to delay statutory provisions with clear implementation dates" as well as how the delay will affect the implementation of other provisions of the overhaul, according to the hearing announcement.

A Treasury official said Friday that the department has "long-standing administrative authority to grant transition relief when implementing new legislation like the ACA."

Still, Republicans are likely to use the delay to rally support for legislation (HR 903) by Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany Jr., R-La., to repeal the employer provision.

In announcing the hearing, Brady called the employer provision "a flawed provision that has resulted in lost jobs, fewer hours and a loss of wages while doing nothing at all to make health insurance more affordable -- which is what individuals, employers and workers want and need."

"A one-year delay will not undo this damage," Brady added.

Other House committees are planning to look into the delay as Republican leaders continue to highlight the administration's move.

Tennessee Republican Phil Roe, chairman of the Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, has asked the Congressional Research Service to examine what authority Obama has to institute the delay. Although he asked that the memo be completed by the afternoon of July 3, Roe spokeswoman Tiffany McGuffee said Friday that his office has not yet received it.

Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee are also investigating the decision. They requested documents and information from the administration by July 17. And Cantor brought up the issue in a written statement Friday on the June jobs report, calling for "a permanent delay of Obamacare before we can realize our full job-creating potential."

"Obamacare has been predicted to be a drain on employment since before its passage, and that outcome was confirmed by the Obama administration's delay of the employer mandate," Cantor said.

Democrats, meanwhile, have stood behind the administration's decision and emphasized that it shows flexibility in response to business concerns.

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