Date: 2016-01-06
Speaker: TOM PRICE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. This is a big day. For the first timefor the first timesince the law was enacted. Congress is one vote away from sending a broad repeal of ObamaCare to the Presidents desk. This marks a significant step in the fight for patientcentered health care for all Americans. It will lay the foundation for how Congress can begin to roll back the disastrous policies that are destroying the sacred doctorpatient relationship. The legislation before us today is critical to our larger effort to rid Americas healthcare system from undue Washington interference and bureaucratic dictates and pave the way for real. positive. patientcentered health reform that puts patients and families and doctors in charge of healthcare decisions. This bill repeals the most corrosive components of ObamaCare. It eliminates nearly a trillion dollars in onerous ObamaCare taxes and eliminates the individual and employer mandate penalties. key pillars of the ObamaCare scheme. Under ObamaCare. millions of Americans have been added to a Medicaid system that fails to provide its beneficiaries with adequate access to physicians and other providers. We end that. Expanding Medicaid is not the answer. Reforming Medicaid so that States have greater flexibility to care for those in need is the answer. This legislation also repeals the premium subsidies and tax credits which have failed to control and. in fact. have increased health coverage costs. The current law has made healthcare coverage less affordable and less accessible for millions of Americans. All of this would be done on a timeline to allow for a new. positive solution that will make the purchase of health insurance financially feasible for all Americans and do so in a way that gives individuals. families. and employers the power to choose the type of coverage that they want for themselves. not that Washington forces them to buy. H.R. 3762 also halts Federal funding for abortion providers that are prohibited under this legislation. It increasesincreases. Mr. Speakerthe funding for community healthcare centers to help direct more resources to womens direct care. Taken together. the Congressional Budget Office estimates that this bill would reduce the deficit by $516 billion over the next decade. Seven separate committees and the full House and Senate have contributed to this effort. The entire reconciliation would not have been possible had the House and Senate not first agreed to a budget resolution conference agreement. The budget gave Congress the authority to pursue the reconciliation process and. through that. the opportunity to put this repeal of ObamaCare on the Presidents desk. Ultimately. however. the American people are less interested in process and procedure. They want results. and they want to know who is fighting to improve their way of life. who is working to provide relief to the biggest challenges facing individuals and families and job creators today. No matter how you slice it. ObamaCare is harming the American people. Premiums and deductibles and other outofpocket costs are going up. not down. as the President had promised. Millions of Americans have been kicked off the coverage that they had. That is less access and fewer choices at a higher cost. That is exactly the opposite direction we need to be going. and the American people know it. We all want a healthcare system that is affordable and accessible and responsive to our individual needs. full of choices and innovative treatment options and of the highest quality. That is not too much to ask. Mr. Speaker. It is certainly achievable. but only if we pursue patientcentered solutions that are focused on embracing those principles in health care that we all hold dear. I look forward to this debate and the opportunity to share with the American people how we solve this challenge. the challenge in Americas healthcare system. by putting them in charge of their healthcare decisions. not Washington. I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution. this measure. Lets take this final step in reconciliation to send an ObamaCare repeal bill to the Presidents desk. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.