Our country marked a rather infamous anniversary this week as it was a year ago, on October 1, 2013, that the ObamaCare exchanges opened and Healthcare.gov was rolled out. We all remember what a disastrous rollout that was. One year later, this government takeover of our health care system remains unpopular due to broken promises and escalating costs. The Affordable Care Act – or, as I call it, the Un-Affordable Care Act - has hurt and continues to hurt hardworking Americans by limiting their choices, forcing them to pay for mandates they don’t want to purchase, and resulting in a reduction of work hours in some cases.
President Obama promised his health care law would save families $2,500 a year by the end of his first term. The sad reality is that many plans Americans liked and could afford have been cancelled because they do not provide many of the costly services mandated by the government. Families have been forced to buy more expensive plans that require them to pay for services they don’t want and certainly don’t need. In some cases, the good people of Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District have informed me that small businesses, faced with the government’s new definition of a “full time” employee as one who works 30 hours a week, have reduced the work weeks of employees to 29 hours or less to avoid the impact of Big Government’s edict. This is hurting many American workers who now have less take-home pay to bring to their families. We are reminded every day of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s infamous statement: “We have to pass it to know what’s in it.” Clearly, the people who supported this dreadful bill did not consider the ramifications.
As an outspoken critic of this onerous law, I am working with colleagues to offer America a better alternative to the President’s health care law. While it imposes many mandates, the President’s law does nothing to address the drivers of the high costs of health care. I am committed to helping to craft a bill that lowers costs by limiting harmful litigation that prompts physicians to order expensive tests and procedures that are not necessary; a bill that encourages the posting of prices for various medical procedures to increase transparency and empower patients; and a bill that gives citizens greater purchasing power by allowing them to buy health policies across state lines. As America marks the first anniversary of implementation of the Un-Affordable Care Act, it is imperative that we work together to offer sensible solutions to health care concerns, providing Americans with choices they want and can afford.
On another matter, I am pleased to share with you that an important piece of legislation I co-sponsor was signed into law this week. The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, H.R. 4980, is bipartisan legislation aimed at reducing sex trafficking, increasing adoptions, and improving child support collections. Approval of this bill followed two events I hosted in Columbia. One dealt with the tragedy of human trafficking and the other focused on much-needed improvements to our child welfare system.
The new law will encourage states to combat sex trafficking among youth in foster care, promote normalcy for foster youth, and move more children from foster care into adoptive homes or the homes of relatives. Much more is needed to ensure the protection and safety of children who are at risk, but this is a good start. I was honored to have played a role in this bipartisan effort to help our children.
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