In the Republicans’ weekly address, House members who sponsored bills to delay key mandates in President Obama’s health care law called on the White House and Democrat-controlled Senate to take up the measures and provide “equal justice under the law.”
Rep. Tim Griffin, of Arkansas, and Rep. Todd Young, of Indiana, pressed a GOP-led narrative that’s been in play since the Obama administration decided July 2 to delay by one year, to 2015, a part of the Affordable Care Act requiring business with 50 or more full-time workers to provide health coverage or pay fines.
Given the cushion for businesses, they said the same one-year delay should be applied to the individual mandate, which requires most Americans to obtain some form of health coverage.
“Because let’s be fair about this — if the president’s going to help out businesses by exempting them from the law, he ought to give the same relief to folks like you,” Mr. Griffin said in remarks as prepared for delivery.
Thirty-five House Democrats joined the Republican majority this week in passing a measure to codify Mr. Obama’s delay of the employer mandate. Then, 22 Democrats supported a delay to the individual mandate, citing the need for breathing room to implement the law correctly.
But Republicans say they don’t want the law to be implemented, period.
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“Bottom line, the sooner we can delay, dismantle, and repeal the president’s health care law, the sooner we can get people back to work and focus on expanding opportunity for everyone,” Mr. Young said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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