[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 10838-10839]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES DECISION ON THE 
              CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARTHA ROBY

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 29, 2012

  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deep 
disappointment with the recent United States Supreme Court ruling on 
June 28, 2012 that upheld the constitutionality of the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
  The Court's opinion is lengthy and complicated and will require 
careful evaluation and review. However, we know that the Court affirmed 
the view that President Obama's law represents a significant tax on the 
American people, and that it is through the federal government's power 
to levy taxes that the Court upheld the law as constitutional.
  Mr. Speaker, the Court's legal analysis is dubious and cause for 
concern given the dangerous precedent it sets. Can the government

[[Page 10839]]

now require Americans to purchase government-approved goods and 
services or else face the threat of a tax? What we do know, however, is 
that the Court put restraint on the power of Congress to mandate the 
purchase of goods and services under the Commerce Clause of the United 
States Constitution.
  The Court ruled on the legal issues, not the wisdom of the policy. 
The American people have already weighed in and overwhelmingly rejected 
this law. As a whole, the law, which the nonpartisan Congressional 
Budget Office predicts will cost $1.6 trillion and will result in as 
many as 20 million Americans losing their existing health care 
coverage, remains deeply unpopular with the public. This is a stark 
contrast to the President Obama's repeated promise that, ``if you like 
your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.''
  The President's law has also proven to be ineffective at reducing the 
cost of health care, as it is suffocating small businesses with 
overbearing regulations and hampering job creation in a time of 
economic uncertainty. Recent estimates indicate that the law will 
actually cost 800,000 American jobs, not create 400,000 jobs as Nancy 
Pelosi claimed in 2010.
  By law, beginning in 2014, employers with more than 50 employees will 
be required to offer health insurance coverage or face financial 
penalties. In addition, an employer plan must cover a specific set of 
services determined by the Department of Health and Human Services 
(HHS) and meet actuarial standards laid out in the law. As a result, 
employers will be forced to choose whether to meet the new insurance 
requirements, pay noncompliance penalties to the Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS), or reduce workers' hours so they do not qualify as full-
time. I have heard from several small business owners in my home state 
of Alabama, and across the United States, that will have financial 
struggles no matter which decision they chose. How can a business owner 
provide health insurance to his employees if his business is bankrupt?
  We can all agree that the Court's preservation of PPACA's employer 
health insurance mandate is costly, to both employers and to their 
employees. Rising costs will force employers to consider dropping 
health coverage altogether. Recent polls state that 30 percent of 
employers will ``definitely'' or ``probably'' stop offering health 
insurance after 2014. In the wake of the Court's ruling, employers will 
have three options in coming years: maintain coverage and absorb cost 
increases, maintain coverage and pass on as many costs as possible to 
workers, or drop coverage and pay a penalty. Despite the court's 
ruling, I remain committed to working toward the repeal of this harmful 
law.
  The House of Representatives will vote yet again to repeal the law in 
early July and immediately begin deliberate work to replace the law 
with free market reforms that truly improve access to quality and 
affordable care. Americans and their doctors, not federal bureaucrats 
and politicians, are in the best position to determine which health 
care options best meet their individual needs.

                          ____________________