The Right Process

Statement

House Republicans and President Trump promised the American people a change in how their government will operate. The first noticeable change will be keeping to our promise of working in an open and transparent way to positively affect health care policy in this country.

This month, Speaker Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee Kevin Brady, and Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Greg Walden unveiled the text to the House Republican plan to reform health care.

There is no doubt the current healthcare system is broken. Perhaps no one has more accurately summarized the problems with the current law than former President Bill Clinton. Last October, President Clinton said during a speech that "the people who are getting killed [under Obamacare] are small business people and individuals who make a little too much to get into these subsidies.... You've got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health insurance and you have all these people who are busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind[ing] up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half."

What President Clinton describes, is exactly the situation Speaker Paul Ryan and House Republicans sought to address from day one. If you remember Speaker Ryan's town hall in January of this year, he explicitly said the purpose of our work is to keep the good objectives of Obamacare in place while fixing what is broken.

The goals of this repeal and replacement effort are to continue to provide affordable care to those 25 million who are insured because of Obamacare, but also to provide affordable care to the millions more that President Clinton described as having their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half because of Obamacare.

Importantly, the House is working to implement a steady transition period away from Obamacare that will not pull the rug out from those currently receiving health care coverage while returning control and flexibility to our states to specifically tailor our Nation's health care systems to their populations. The current plan will maintain current protections for young Americans under the age of 26 to stay on their parents' plans and prevent denying policies for individuals with pre-existing conditions.

It will also provide immediate relief to those burdened by Obamacare through eliminating the federal government's mandate on individuals and employers and repealing Obamacare's taxes on over-the-counter medications, health insurance premiums and medical devices. This plan is about lowering costs, expanding choice, and putting hardworking Americans -- not the federal government --in control of their health care.

As I monitor the progress of the repeal and replacement legislation, I welcome your thoughts on the House's plan and I will keep you updated. I look forward to continue visiting with constituents and advocacy groups in Arkansas on this extremely important issue.

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