Huffman Votes Against Yet Another Republican Bill to Derail Affordable Care Act

November 15, 2013

WASHINGTON­—Today, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) voted against H.R. 3350, the “Keep Your Health Plan Act,” sponsored by Congressman Fred Upton. This proposal marked the 46th time House Republicans have moved to undermine the Affordable Care Act and put insurance companies back in charge of Americans’ health care. Huffman also issued the following statement after President Obama stated that insurers can continue to offer canceled plans for an additional year:

"It was disappointing to see the House Republican leadership block a Democratic effort today that would have increased protections for consumers and families while allowing insurers to continue coverage into the new year.

I'm grateful that the President is aggressively using his executive authority to improve the spotty rollout of the Affordable Care Act.  Given some of the confusing statements that were made when the ACA was passed, and the actions of some insurance carriers in dropping plans that were not specifically 'grandfathered' by the law, it's only fair that we take this step to authorize insurance companies to renew all existing plans for an additional year regardless of the type of plan. 

Toward that end, I am joining California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and several of my congressional colleagues in calling on Covered California to release insurers on the California exchange from the requirement to cancel policies that don't comply with new ACA standards.  The ACA is a critically important step for healthcare reform, but it is not perfect and we should not hesitate to make adjustments as we go forward, just as we did with Medicare, Social Security, and other cornerstones of America's social safety net. 

A law of this magnitude inevitably requires some adaptive management to address unanticipated problems, and I'm sure this will not be the last time we need to adaptively manage implementation of the ACA.  I invite my Republican colleagues to join in efforts to improve the law so that it can succeed, instead of stubbornly focusing on repealing it without any proposal of their own for addressing the millions of Americans who lack health insurance, ending abusive insurance practices, and improving healthcare access and affordability." 

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