[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 103 (Thursday, July 18, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LETTER TO LEADER REID AND LEADER PELOSI

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MATT SALMON

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 18, 2013

  Mr. SALMON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following:

       Dear Leader Reid and Leader Pelosi: When you and the 
     President sought our support for the Affordable Care Act 
     (ACA), you pledged that if we liked the health plans we have 
     now, we could keep them. Sadly, that promise is under threat. 
     Right now, unless you and the Obama Administration enact an 
     equitable fix, the ACA will shatter not only our hard-earned 
     health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour 
     work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.
       Like millions of other Americans, our members are front-
     line workers in the American economy. We have been strong 
     supporters of the notion that all Americans should have 
     access to quality, affordable health care. We have also been 
     strong supporters of you. In campaign after campaign we have 
     put boots on the ground, gone door-to-door to get out the 
     vote, run phone banks and raised money to secure this vision.
       Now this vision has come back to haunt us.
       Since the ACA was enacted, we have been bringing our deep 
     concerns to the Administration, seeking reasonable regulatory 
     interpretations to the statute that would help prevent the 
     destruction of nonprofit health plans. As you both know 
     first-hand, our persuasive arguments have been disregarded 
     and met with a stone wall by the White House and the 
     pertinent agencies. This is especially stinging because other 
     stakeholders have repeatedly received successful 
     interpretations for their respective grievances. Most 
     disconcerting of course is last week's huge accommodation for 
     the employer community--extending the statutorily mandated 
     ``December 31, 2013'' deadline for the employer mandate and 
     penalties.
       Time is running out: Congress wrote this law; we voted for 
     you. We have a problem; you need to fix it. The unintended 
     consequences of the ACA are severe. Perverse incentives are 
     already creating nightmare scenarios:
       First, the law creates an incentive for employers to keep 
     employees' work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous 
     employers have begun to cut workers' hours to avoid this 
     obligation, and many of them are doing so openly. The impact 
     is two-fold: fewer hours means less pay while also losing our 
     current health benefits.
       Second, millions of Americans are covered by non-profit 
     health insurance plans like the ones in which most of our 
     members participate. These non-profit plans are governed 
     jointly by unions and companies under the Taft-Hartley Act. 
     Our health plans have been built over decades by working men 
     and women. Under the ACA as interpreted by the 
     Administration, our employees will treated differently and 
     not be eligible for subsidies afforded other citizens. As 
     such, many employees will be relegated to second-class status 
     and shut out of the help the law offers to for-profit 
     insurance plans.
       And finally, even though non-profit plans like ours won't 
     receive the same subsidies as for-profit plans, they'll be 
     taxed to pay for those subsidies. Taken together, these 
     restrictions will make non-profit plans like ours 
     unsustainable, and will undermine the health-care market of 
     viable alternatives to the big health insurance companies.
       On behalf of the millions of working men and women we 
     represent and the families they support, we can no longer 
     stand silent in the face of elements of the Affordable Care 
     Act that will destroy the very health and wellbeing of our 
     members along with millions of other hardworking Americans.
       We believe that there are common-sense corrections that can 
     be made within the existing statute that will allow our 
     members to continue to keep their current health plans and 
     benefits just as you and the President pledged. Unless 
     changes are made, however, that promise is hollow.
       We continue to stand behind real health care reform, but 
     the law as it stands will hurt millions of Americans 
     including the members of our respective unions.
       We are looking to you to make sure these changes are made.
     James P. Hoffa,
       General President,
       International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
     Joseph Hansen,
       International President, UFCW.
     D. Taylor,
       President, UNITE-HERE.

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