WASHINGTON – Members of the Kansas congressional delegation had similar feelings on the Supreme Court’s King v Burwell decision, which upheld federal subsidies for insurance bought through Obamacare’s federal exchanges.
Senator Jerry Moran wrote on his facebook page, “I have serious concerns about the impact of today’s Supreme Court decision to uphold Affordable Care Act subsidies on our constitutional principle of separation of powers.
Laws should be applied as actually written and passed by Congress, rather than subject to the unauthorized discretion of the executive branch.
As Justice Scalia rightly stated, this decision “rewrites the law…we should start calling this law SCOTUScare.”
As the ACA continues to be implemented, its damaging consequences include higher costs for individuals, families and employers, constrained economic growth, and increased IRS intrusion in our daily lives.
This is unfortunate, as a different decision in this case would have provided Congress with an important opportunity to correct course and implement policies that would actually reduce health care costs for Americans and increase choice for individuals and families.
Senator Pat Roberts stated in a media release, “The Supreme Court’s decision today does not take away from the fact the Obamacare is fundamentally broken and that the administration has recklessly implemented this law, damaging our health care system as a whole and jeopardizing Kansans’ health care.
Every day Obamacare continues to hurt millions—just last week the administration released the proposed premium increases for 2016, rising to as high as 38 percent for some in Kansas. Doctors are becoming increasingly unavailable to their patients, and employers continue to cut jobs and hours. I will continue to fight for real reforms to our health care system that lower costs, lift the burden on our job creators, and restore the all-important relationship between a doctor and their patient.
We don’t need to fix Obamacare, we need to fix health care.”
Rep. Tim Huelskamp said the Supreme Court decision refused to bail out congress. “Without the Supreme Court to bail out Congress, it is now time to act,” said the First District congressman.
“For four years, we have waited, begged and pleaded for Republican leadership to allow us to debate and pass a patient-centered replacement. Now is the time to act – now is the time to keep our word to the American people. After 58 votes to repeal Obamacare in part or in whole, I call on our Republican leadership to use Reconciliation to put a full repeal of ObamaCare on the President’s desk.”
Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins said she was committed to finding a solution. “Today’s disappointing decision does not change the hardships that folks around Kansas and across the nation are facing as they continue to deal with the uncertainty and failed promises of the President’s broken healthcare law. While the healthcare delivery system had problems prior to the President’s healthcare law, under his fundamentally flawed law it is still not working and remains just as burdensome, confusing, and expensive as the day it came into existence. I remain committed to fixing this mess and implementing better healthcare solutions that lower costs and empower patients to choose the care that’s right for them.”