Third Anniversary of Health Care Reform Law

On Saturday, President Obama's massive health reform law turned three years old. This law isn't about reforming our health care system, it's about a government takeover of the health care industry. So it shouldn't be a surprise that three years later, the law's disastrous consequences continue to be uncovered. Just last week, we learned that ‘some Americans could see their insurance bills double next year,' according to the Associated Press. This is on top of the fewer jobs, higher taxes and new big government mandates that we already know about.

As Chairman of the Small Business Committee, one of the biggest complaints I hear from small businesses is about the regulations coming from Washington. Thousands of pages of health law regulations have been issued and are still coming. Small businesses are frustrated, confused, and don't know where to start to comply. Indeed, 75 percent of small businesses expect the health care law will increase costs for their businesses.

Small firms, already hurting in the difficult economy, are likely to struggle to absorb either the additional cost of insurance or facing a stiff penalty. Many small businesses are considering shifting workers to part-time status, not hiring, or reducing their workforce to avoid the employer mandate requirements.

House Republicans have voted to repeal this wrong-headed law on many occasions; the Senate has failed to act. We intend to start from square one with simple, common sense reforms that put patients in charge and help bring down costs. I will continue working to replace it with a plan that returns control of health care decisions to individuals, not the government.

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