Rep. Rokita Votes to Fix Our Broken Health Care System

Statement

oday Rep. Todd Rokita issued the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA). It passed 217-213.

"Whether piece by piece, or all at once, I will continue fighting to repeal the insidious Obamacare law because it has hurt so many people. Many, many more than it ever pretended to help. I'm proud to support President Trump and our collective efforts to fix the healthcare system for the American people.

"Obamacare is hurting Americans, particularly small businesses and the middle class, by increasing premiums, reducing access to doctors, and creating a one-size-fits-all Washington dictated health care system, it is clear that we need a new direction.

"As Vice Chairman of the Budget Committee, I fought to include major reforms to Medicaid by ending the current open-ended system that encourages waste and fraud, and instead gives states the flexibility and authority to run their own programs. These changes originate from my bill, the State Health Flexibility Act, which gives states complete control and sets funding levels for each year to cover nondisabled, nonelderly adults and children."

The American Health Care Act, H.R. 1628, will repeal major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and create a new patient-centered approach that will improve care for all Americans.

Created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, reconciliation is a unique legislative process that allows Congress to consider legislation without having to overcome a Senate filibuster. The Budget Committee can write reconciliation instructions and instruct the relevant committees to draft legislation to hit a specific budget target. A limitation of the reconciliation process is that the final bill can only contain provisions that have a budgetary impact, specifically tax, spending and debt.

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