The U.S. House of Representatives on July 11 voted to repeal President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The 244-185 vote was mostly along party lines, with West Virginia's Republican Reps. Shelley Moore Capito and David McKinley voting for the repeal. Rep. Nick Rahall, a Democrat, voted against. Only five Democrats voted in favor of the measure.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the act's individual mandate could stand as a tax, meaning consumers who choose not to purchase health insurance may be taxed.
"The health care law represents a massive tax increase on the middle class," McKinley said in a statement. "President Obama had promised the American people that this mandate was not a tax, but the Supreme Court ruled otherwise. The president also told Americans that they would keep their current health coverage. But this, too, is being proven false."
Not so fast, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. He issued a statement July 11 to "set the record straight" about the health care law.
"Special interests and politicians need to stop spreading blatant falsehoods about the health reform law," Rockefeller said in the statement. "It's a complicated law – and while it isn't perfect, it's here to help every American, and the specifics of the law have widespread support. West Virginians have long asked for it and they need it. When people know that is in the law, they like it."
According to Rockefeller's statement, the individual mandate exists so both well and sick people are covered at the same time, lowering health care costs for everyone. It also prevents people from waiting until they are sick to purchase health care coverage. By encouraging healthy individuals who are currently insured to stay in the insurance markets and attract newly insured healthy individuals into those markets as well, the individual mandate leads to lower premiums and a more stable market. This, according to Rockefeller, leads to lower costs for individuals, families, hospitals and states.
But the individual mandate isn't the only aspect of the law opponents are targeting. States have to expand Medicare in order to receive funding from the federal government. For some states, including West Virginia, this expansion could put a greater strain on already tight budgets.
Capito talked with constituents in a telephone townhall earlier this week. She said many voters expressed concern about the law and worry about how tax increases and cuts to Medicare affect them.
"Unfortunately, all of this remains to be seen," Capito said in a July 11 statement. "With over 12,000 pages of regulations, we've only begun to see the possible negative consequences of the law."
The cost of implementing the law concerns McKinley.
"The previous Congress was told the cost for Obamacare would be less than $800 billion," he said. "But the recent Congressional Budget Office report claims the plan will cost in excess of $1.76 trillion. Congress now knows the law takes $500 billion from Medicare and is expected to increase costs to millions of Americans."
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