[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5424 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5424
To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health
Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and enact the Common
Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 27, 2010
Mr. Herger (for himself, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Cantor, Mr. Pence, Mrs.
McMorris Rodgers, Mr. Sessions, Mr. McCarthy of California, Mr. Blunt,
Mr. Camp, Mr. Barton of Texas, Mr. Kline of Minnesota, Mr. Shimkus, Mr.
Price of Georgia, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. Linder, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Davis
of Kentucky, Mr. Reichert, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Heller, and Mr. Roskam)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on
Appropriations, Ways and Means, Education and Labor, the Judiciary,
Natural Resources, House Administration, and Rules, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health
Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and enact the Common
Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Reform Americans Can Afford Act of
2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (referred
to in this section as the ``CBO'') predicts that health
insurance premiums will increase by $2,100 for millions of
families by 2016 as a result of the Democrats' health overhaul.
(2) The Obama Administration's own actuaries at the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (referred to in this section
as the ``CMS'') predict that, ``[N]ational health expenditures
under the health reform act would increase by a total of
$311,000,000,000 (0.9 percent) during calendar years 2010-
2019'' as a result of the Democrats' health overhaul.
(3) The CMS actuaries predict that 14,000,000 Americans
would lose their employer-sponsored insurance as a result of
the Democrats' health overhaul.
(4) The Democrats' health overhaul penalizes Americans who
save money to pay for their health care and threatens to reduce
the value of the health benefits of 43,000,000 Americans with
Flexible Spending Arrangements and Health Savings Accounts.
(5) CBO estimates the Democrats' health overhaul slashes
Medicare by more than one-half trillion dollars in order to
fund a new Government entitlement program.
(6) The Medicare actuaries found these Medicare cuts to be
so drastic that they caution, ``providers for whom Medicare
constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find
it difficult to remain profitable and, absent legislative
intervention, might end their participation in the program
(possibly jeopardizing access to care for beneficiaries)''.
(7) The CMS actuaries predict 7,000,000 Medicare
beneficiaries will no longer be enrolled in a Medicare
Advantage plan and millions of seniors who are currently
enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan will see their benefits
slashed and out-of-pocket costs increase.
(8) According to the Joint Committee on Taxation and the
CBO, the Democrats' health law contains a total of
$569,200,000,000 in tax increases, including a dozen separate
provisions that break President Obama's pledge to avoid tax
increases on middle-class Americans earning less than $200,000
per year and families earning less than $250,000 per year.
(9) The national unemployment rate remains near 10 percent.
(10) CBO estimates that the Democrats' health overhaul will
raise taxes on employers who fail to provide Government-
approved health insurance to their employees by
$52,000,000,000.
(11) CBO said that ``employees largely bear the cost of . .
. [employer mandate] fees in the form of lower wages''.
(12) The costs incurred by businesses who avoid the tax by
complying with the employer mandate may also be felt by
potential workers (who will have fewer employment opportunities
as businesses respond to the mandate by reducing additional
hiring) and by consumers (who may have to pay more for goods
and services to offset the higher costs imposed on businesses
by the mandate).
(13) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents more
than 3,000,000 businesses and organizations, said the
Democrats' health overhaul, ``will not increase coverage-rather
it will lead to out-sourcing, off-shoring, hiring of
independent contractors, spinning-off small new companies,
reducing workforces, and reducing wages''.
(14) The National Federation of Independent Business, which
represents 350,000 small businesses, said through mandates,
``employees ultimately bear the cost of their health insurance
through lower employment, depressed wages, depressed
productivity, and loss of economic opportunities''.
(15) CBO found that 3,900,000 Americans would pay
$17,000,000,000 in taxes for not purchasing Government-approved
health insurance and that nearly half of these taxes would be
paid by families earning less than 300 percent of the Federal
poverty level.
(16) The Internal Revenue Service may have to hire as many
as 16,500 additional agents, auditors, and other workers to
enforce all the new taxes and penalties in the Democrats'
health overhaul, dangerously expanding the Government's reach
into the lives of virtually every American.
(17) The CMS actuaries predict the nearly $110,000,000,000
in new health care industry taxes in the Democrats' health
overhaul will be passed onto consumers in the form of higher
premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
(18) The subsidies for individuals and families (who earn
less than 400 percent of the Federal poverty level) in the
Democrats' health overhaul are structured in a way that will
financially punish married couples. For example, a woman
earning $32,000 in 2016 who gets married to a man earning the
same amount will pay an average marriage penalty of $9,640
versus what they would have paid for health coverage had they
not married.
(19) The rapid phase-out of the premium tax credits, when
combined with existing income and payroll tax rates, create
effective marginal tax rates exceeding 100 percent in certain
cases, thus destroying any incentive to work harder and earn
more income.
(20) The so-called ``Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
Institute'' paves the way for Government-sanctioned rationing
of life-saving treatments by allowing the coverage of health
care treatments and services to be based on how much those
treatments and services cost.
(21) The CMS actuaries predict the program to help cover
the sickest Americans will be so inadequately funded that
premiums will have to increase ``substantially'' to maintain
solvency.
(22) The CMS actuaries estimate 18,000,000 Americans will
be dumped into Medicaid, a program in which they are likely to
have a difficult time finding a doctor to treat them, as a
result of the Democrats' health overhaul.
(23) The Medicaid expansion in the Democrats' health
overhaul will force States to spend an additional
$20,000,000,000 on their Medicaid programs at time where the
vast majority of States are facing a budget crisis.
(24) The 2010 budget deficit currently stands at
$1,400,000,000,000 and the national debt totals
$12,000,000,000,000.
(25) The CMS actuaries exposed the Democrats' budget
gimmicks, saying a new Government-run long-term care program
that Democrats have touted as saving $72,000,000,000 over the
next ten years will ``face a significant risk of failure'' and
also that ``the improved [Medicare] financing cannot be
simultaneously used to finance other Federal outlays (such as
the coverage expansions) and to extend the trust fund''.
(26) CBO estimates the House Republican health reform bill
would reduce premiums across the board by up to $1,050
annually.
(27) The House Republican health reform bill would not cut
Medicare or increase taxes.
(28) CBO estimates the Republican health reform bill would
reduce the Federal deficit by $68,000,000,000 over the next 10
years.
(29) As of introduction of this bill, 21 State attorneys
general are suing the Federal Government, challenging the
constitutionality of the Democrats' new health care law.
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT AND
THE HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2010.
(a) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.--Effective as of
the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, such
Act is repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such
Act are restored or revived as if such Act had not been enacted.
(b) Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.--
Effective as of the enactment of the Health Care and Education
Reconciliation Act of 2010, such Act is repealed, and the provisions of
law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such
Act had not been enacted.
SEC. 4. ENACTMENT OF THE COMMON SENSE HEALTH CARE REFORM AND
AFFORDABILITY ACT.
H.R. 4038, entitled the ``Common Sense Health Care Reform and
Affordability Act'', as introduced in the House of Representatives on
November 6, 2009, is enacted into law.
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