After the Supreme Court: The next step

 Dear Samuel,

On Thursday the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, declaring the individual mandate Constitutional under the power of Congress to levy taxes. To give a quick recap, the individual mandate requires every American to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. To me, this reasoning was odd for two reasons. First, when President Obama was trying to sell Obamacare to a skeptical American public he repeatedly insisted that the mandate was not a tax. Secondly, Congress has never taxed inactivity before Obamacare, which I believe raises a whole host of Constitutional concerns.

While supporters of Obamacare have won the battle before the courts for now, the fight to repeal Obamacare goes on. Congress will again vote to repeal Obamacare, which will most likely happen on July 11. The vote is of course symbolic, but it demonstrates the commitment of Republicans to repeal this law and that, if we have the necessary majorities, we will repeal Obamacare. 

And we must repeal Obamacare, the consequences of which are simply terrible for our liberty, our healthcare, and our budget. In addition to the individual mandate, Obamacare contains 20 new taxes, $1.76 trillion in new spending (when we already face trillion dollar deficits), and top down government control of healthcare. For the first time, government bureaucrats will dictate what procedures your doctor provides, how much they will be compensated, and what kind of insurance small businesses must provide for employees. This is no way to run a healthcare system for 300 million Americans.

Many questions have been asked about what Republicans would do after Obamacare. This is a legitimate question and deserves a serious response.  While Obamacare was the wrong solution, there is no doubt our healthcare system has serious problems. That’s why during the 112 ^th Congress,  Republicans have introduced over 200 healthcare bills. These bills focus on developing free market solutions which put patients first. For example, tort reform would allow doctors to focus on treatment, instead of defensive medicine. It would also reduce costs for malpractice insurance, which can drive doctors out of business. When Texas passed tort reform in 2003, they saw malpractice insurance premiums drop by 27%. In fact, I cosponsored and voted for H.R. 5, the  PATH Act, which would reduce junk lawsuits on doctors.

Republicans have brought other solutions to the table, such as allowing small businesses to pool health insurance coverage to get group discounts, permit the purchase of insurance across state lines such as with H.R. 371, the  Health Care Choice Act , which I cosponsored. There have also been proposals for state based solutions to help folks with preexisting conditions. These are all promising ideas, and I hope to see a full and vigorous debate of their merit before the American people.

Sincerely,
Chuck Fleischmann