THE DAILY WHIP: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

H.Res. 70 – Rule Providing for Consideration of H.R. 596 – To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Rep. Byrne – Energy and Commerce/Education and the Workforce/Ways and Means/Judiciary/Natural Resources/Rules/House Administration/ Appropriations/Budget) (One Hour of Debate).  The Rules Committee has recommended a Closed Rule that provides for ninety minutes of general debate allocated as follows:

• 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
• 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means
• 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce

The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions and waives all points of order against the legislation.

The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts to consider H.R. 596 under an open Rule. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 596 – To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Rep. Byrne – Energy and Commerce/Education and the Workforce/Ways and Means/Judiciary/Natural Resources/Rules/House Administration/Appropriations/Budget) (90 Minutes of Debate). This will mark the 56th time that Republicans have voted to repeal, defund or undermine the Affordable Care Act. Despite the Supreme Court’s upholding of the law’s constitutionality, the reelection of President Obama, and Speaker John Boehner’s declaration that: “Obamacare is the law of the land,” Republicans refuse to stop wasting time and taxpayer money in their effort to take away the patient protections and benefits of the Affordable Care Act.

Exactly like legislation that Republicans forced through the House in 2011, 2012 and 2013, all of which were dead on arrival in the Senate, this legislation is being brought to the House Floor in order to give Republican Freshmen Members the opportunity to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Under that logic, Freshman Members should also have the opportunity to vote on legislation to replace the sequester, raise the minimum wage, and reform our immigration system – policies that would actually create jobs and benefit the middle class.

The Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law five years ago, has many benefits, including:

• Providing affordable, quality coverage to millions of Americans by:
  • Reducing the number of uninsured by about 10 million people;
  • Enabling more than 9.5 million Americans to enroll in affordable, quality health coverage through the health insurance marketplaces;
  • Allowing three million young adults to gain coverage through a parent’s plan;
  • Extending funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from 2013 through Fiscal Year 2015;
  • Enrolling more than 9.7 million more Americans in Medicaid and CHIP; and,
  • Making free preventive care services accessible to millions of Americans in private plans and in Medicare.

• Putting Americans in control of their health care by enacting multiple insurance reforms, including:
  • Eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions for all Americans;
  • Eliminating lifetime limits and caps on coverage immediately and phasing out annual limits and caps on coverage;
  • Prohibiting insurance companies from canceling or rescinding your policy if you get sick; and,
  • Saving consumers $9 billion since 2011 by requiring insurance companies to spend at least 80 cents of every dollar on consumers’ health care and empowering states to review and negotiate premium increases.

• Strengthening the Medicare program and reducing costs for seniors by:
  • Saving 8.2 million seniors more than $11.5 billion on their prescription drugs since 2010 – an average of $1,407 per beneficiary;
  • Reducing brand name drug costs in the donut hole by at least 50%, discounting generic drug costs, and closing the donut hole entirely over time;
  • Driving down unnecessary hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries by 150,000;
  • Eliminating all co-pays and deductibles for preventive services;
  • Eliminating overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans; and,
  • Providing seniors with a free annual wellness exam.

• Containing costs in the health care system for consumers and taxpayers by:
  • Slowing growth in health care spending to the slowest rate on record last year and health care price inflation is at its lowest rate in 50 years; and,
  • Extending the solvency of the Medicare trust fund by 13 years relative to projections before the Affordable Care Act was enacted.

Repeal turns the clock back on all of this – it increases the deficit, increases costs and cuts benefits for seniors on Medicare, and eliminates tax credits to help make insurance more affordable for small businesses and the middle class. Additionally, this bill would terminate the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which the Affordable Care Act funds through Fiscal Year 2015, eliminating healthcare coverage for millions of children living in low-income homes.

Lastly, this bill includes the same instructions for House Committees to report a Republican alternative to the Affordable Care Act passed by the House in January 2011. Four years later, the Republicans have not offered any legislation that satisfy these instructions, yet they are voting on them again.

Republicans are pursuing this course once again even after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of this law. Instead of focusing on jobs and helping the middle class, House Republicans continue to choose confrontation over compromise and messaging, show-votes over actual legislation that has a chance of becoming law. The White House agrees and has issued a SAP stating that the President would veto this bill. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Bill Text for H.R. 596:
PDF Version

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Wednesday, February 4: The House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to consider H.R. 50– Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2015 (Rep. Foxx – Oversight and Government Reform)(Subject to a Rule).