WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) on Friday issued the following statement in response to the U.S. House approval of a bill that would keep the federal government running after September 30th only if implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is halted. The continuing resolution would fund the federal government at current sequester levels of $986.3 billion through December 15th, while defunding the ACA. Harkin is the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
“While the Democratically-led U.S. Senate continues to work as it has throughout the year to pass meaningful, bipartisan legislation, the U.S. House remains focused on ideology,” said Harkin. On Friday, “it went beyond partisanship by threatening to shut down the government if the Affordable Care Act is not gutted. This kind of obsession would be laughable if the economic stakes were not so high for middle class families.
“This measure has no chance of passing the U.S. Senate. It is irresponsible and it is not a serious attempt to avert a government shutdown.”
Since the ACA was enacted into law, the U.S. House has voted 42 times, including today’s vote, to either repeal or defund the law. Despite this action, the new law is already credited with slowing the growth in health care costs:
- Premiums for insurance offered on the marketplaces are coming in lower than expected;
- The law bans the worst abuses by insurance companies;
- Starting Jan. 1, health plans will not be allowed to refuse coverage or charge more because of preexisting conditions;
- More than 3 million young people can stay on their parents’ plan until age 26;
- Individuals with private insurance and Medicare have guaranteed access to preventive services without cost-sharing;
- The law’s Prevention and Public Health Fund, championed by Harkin, has funded several successful initiatives, including the “Tips from Former Smokers” national ad campaign.
Harkin said: “While the Democratically-led U.S. Senate continues to work as it has throughout the year to pass meaningful, bipartisan legislation, the U.S. House remains focused on ideology,”
The above statement is a crock. They are anything but bipartisan and Obamacare was not bi-partisan. Not one Republican voted for it. It is all Democrat – remember that when you see your healthcare costs soar – unless of course, Obama exempted you from the act for the moment.
Hey Harkin, you’re exempted from Obamacare, right? ’nuff said.