WASHINGTON, DC – During the first consideration of the budget on the Senate floor in four years, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts offered several amendments to the Senate Budget Resolution, S. Con. Res. 8, to protect taxpayers and patients from the devastating effects of the President’s health care overhaul, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as Obamacare, which passed three years ago this Saturday.
Senator Roberts released the following statement on his amendments and the third anniversary of Obamacare. For audio and video of the statement click HERE.
“I have long said that Obamacare should be completely repealed. We should replace it with a plan that actually lowers the cost of care for all Americans and keeps the government, and the IRS, out of the doctor patient relationship,” Roberts said.
“Tomorrow, as we reflect on the third anniversary of this law, it is important to note the veiled, costly, and clumsy implementation of Obamacare over the last three years. Folks, it is not getting better and only proves this is not the answer to our health care problems, despite all the Government advertising.”
“Premiums are rising almost as quickly as the stack of new regulations….already over 20,000 pages. Doctors, patients, and other stakeholders have been buried under an avalanche of new taxes and ill-defined, over complicated and remarkably costly rules. And the myth of ‘if you like your plan you can keep it’ has been completely exposed.”
“In the budget before the Senate this week, and in other legislation going forward, I will continue to push for serious reforms and full repeals of Obamacare. After listening to families and the professionals that care for them, three years later it’s clear Obamacare is not the answer, and we must repeal or at least drastically reform this program to protect hardworking Kansans from this Administration’s healthcare overhaul.”
Roberts’ legislation eliminates wasteful spending, fights to protect taxpayers and patients by ensuring national health care costs and patient premiums don’t rise as a result of Obamacare, and bars the government from using comparative effectiveness research, another form of rationing, to deny coverage.
Here are summaries of Senator Roberts’ Obamacare amendments to the Senate Budget Resolution, S. Con. Res. 8:
Roberts Amendment No. 187 — Obamacare Marketing Prohibition Amendment
The amendment would prohibit funds for promotional or marketing materials promoting Obamacare and/or its benefits.
Roberts Amendment No. 188 — Obamacare Should Address What the President Calls a “Health Spending Problem” Amendment
The amendment would delay Obamacare funding until the CMS Actuary certifies it will not lead to a net increase in national health expenditures.
Roberts Amendment No. 185 Premium Reduction Guarantee Amendment
The amendment would prevent the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use funds to continue the implementation or management of exchanges including the associated subsidies until the CMS Actuary certifies that the implementation of Obamacare has resulted in average premiums for Americans being reduced by $2500.
Roberts Amendment No. 186 — Health Care Rationing Prohibition Amendment
The amendment would prohibit the use of data obtained from comparative effectiveness research to deny coverage of items or services under Federal health care programs and to ensure that comparative effectiveness research accounts for advancements in genomics and personalized medicine, the unique needs of health disparity populations, and differences in the treatment response and the treatment preferences of patients.
Roberts Amendment No. 189 – “Spending Problem” Amendment
The amendment would delay Obamacare funding until CBO certifies it will not lead to a net increase in national health expenditures.
During the health care reform debate in 2009, Senator Roberts was an outspoken opponent of the Affordable Care Act. As the Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, the Co-Chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus and as a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Roberts has fought against hidden taxes, over-regulation, wasteful spending, and rationing in the President’s health care law.