Texas GOP Vote

In 2003, Justice Anthony Kennedy said, “It is a grave mistake to retain a policy just because a court finds it constitutional.” I strongly agree with this statement. This week, I joined 5 Democrats and 238 of my Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives and voted once again to repeal Obamacare. The Repeal of Obamacare Act (H.R. 6079) is supported by groups like Physician Hospitals of America, National Right to Life Committee, Americans for Tax Reform, and the US Chamber of Commerce. The House’s bipartisan vote is important. It sends a message that we are serious about replacing Obamacare with patient-centered reforms.

While the Supreme Court may have found Obamacare to be a valid law, like thousands of patients and doctors in Texas, I believe it is bad policy. 83 percent of American physicians have considered leaving their practices because of Obamacare, according to a survey released by the Doctor Patient Medical Association.

Middle-class individuals and families risk losing their health insurance and paying more for health care if we don’t repeal Obamacare:

• $1,200: Increase in health care premiums for an average American family in the year following enactment of the Democrats’ health care law.
• 13 percent: Premium increase, in 2016, for individuals and families who buy coverage on their own – compared to if the law hadn’t been enacted at all.
• $118 billion: Additional financial burden saddled onto state budgets from an unprecedented Medicaid expansion. 
• 1,019,810: Number of Americans that are at risk of losing their health insurance because the plan was denied a waiver under the President’s health care law.

Seniors will have to pay more for Medicare and many will lose their prescription drug coverage if we don’t repeal Obamacare:

• 9 in 10: Number of seniors with retiree benefits who will lose their retiree prescription drug coverage through their employer under the President’s health care law.
• Approximately 8 in 10: Estimated number of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D that are paying a higher premium so that 15 percent of beneficiaries can benefit from the change to the donut hole. 

Obamacare contains 22 new tax increases totaling over $569 billion – a dozen of which violate the President’s pledge not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans.

I will continue fighting to replace Obamacare with patient-centered reforms. Congress can begin by changing the law to allow small businesses to pool together to negotiate insurance rates as a group so that they have the same negotiating power enjoyed by big business. Congress should also allow people and small businesses to buy health insurance across state lines and create coverage for pre-existing conditions with high risk pools. Congress should also enact sensible medical malpractice reforms just as Texas has done. You can read more about the specific reforms I support on my website.

Americans should have the freedom to make their own health care decisions without government interference. Working together we can enact sensible reforms that will lower the cost of health care for all Americans and expand access to quality hassle-free care. You can always count on me to represent you as a free market Jeffersonian Republican who is totally committed to the restoration of the 10th Amendment, sovereignty of the states and true individual liberty, just as the Founding Fathers intended.