Chipping away at ObamaCare
U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson
Washington,
May 31, 2011 -
One of my key goals in the 112th Congress has been defunding and repealing ObamaCare. I am pleased to report that in just five months of Republicans taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives, two horrible provisions in government-run healthcare have been deemed so ugly and so terrible that they already have vanished forever.
Yes, that’s right. Recently President Obama signed a bill into law that eliminates the onerous 1099 reporting requirement that would have created a whopping 1250% increase in the amount of paperwork that small-business owners would have to file for the sole purpose of sending more money to government-run healthcare. In addition, the newly passed law stripped a costly regulation for those with rental properties, another so-called “funding source” for ObamaCare.
While I’m thrilled that I got to take two whacks at ObamaCare, I’m hardly done. Knowing of the strong distaste of a government-knows-best healthcare system, I wanted to let you know about other measures I support that would chip away at ObamaCare.
First, I’ve already voted for H.R. 2, the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act. This bill title pretty much sums it up. The measure passed in the House and awaits Senate action.
Second, is H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. I am a co-sponsor of this bill and voted on a similar piece of legislation in the Ways and Means Committee. Now we are just waiting on the Senate to vote to end taxpayer-funded abortion in ObamaCare.
Third, I also voted to eliminate one of the many “slush funds” created in ObamaCare. Under ObamaCare, the Secretary of Health and Human Services gains a troubling amount of authority over America’s health care system and the taxpayer dollars to carry out that authority, including a $17 billion slush fund for the Secretary to spend at her discretion. In essence, another unelected bureaucrat is in control of billions of tax dollars with little to no required oversight by Congress. That is why I voted to eliminate this slush fund forever with H.R. 1217.
In addition to voting on legislation to shred ObamaCare into ribbons, I’ve also introduced and co-sponsored many bills that would do that as well.
One, I say we need to abolish the so-called “wheelchair tax” that would tax every single medical device. Yes, ObamaCare created the wheelchair tax to pay for this terrible law. I used to think that this was the worst idea I had ever heard to come out of the Administration and then I remembered that the White House advocated having wounded warriors pay for their own care and then I realized that that was the most absurd. The bill I co-sponsored, H.R. 435, would eliminate the onerous “wheelchair tax.”
Two, government-run healthcare jeopardizes the doctor-patient relationship on so many levels. One example is how ObamaCare banned the expansion of hospitals where doctors, not bureaucrats, make key medical decisions. My bill, H.R. 1186, repeals the ban on the development and expansion of physician-owned hospitals. This new legislation means that patients can choose the doctor they want, the hospital they want, and the care that they want - from the medical experts whom they know and trust. It’s a real breakthrough for freedom and free-enterprise.
Texas boasts the largest collection of physician-owned hospitals. With over two dozen facilities, the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area has more physician-owned hospitals than any other region in the nation. ObamaCare will stop these hospitals from ever growing and I think that’s just wrong.
Three, I recently co-sponsored H.R. 452, the Medicare Decisions Accountability Act. This legislation abolishes the 15-member panel of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats appointed by the President who would make binding rulings on Medicare spending, the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Americans do not want, need or deserve a team of bureaucrats to arbitrarily reduce access to care – especially for seniors.
In closing, these actions represent an ongoing effort to defund and repeal ObamaCare to make way for patient-centered health reforms that expand access to affordable health care choices. If we truly want to make America great, then we must promote freedom and free-enterprise – and freedom from health-care rationing.
