Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) released the following statement today on the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold portions of ObamaCare:
“ObamaCare has been built on a series of broken promises, and is deepening the administration’s trust deficit and credibility gap with the American public. Despite Democrats’ assurances that the bill would lower premium costs and allow Americans to keep the insurance they liked, ObamaCare has instead resulted in higher premiums, higher taxes, fewer jobs, more regulations, and more government spending.
“The individual mandate, one of the chief taxes scheduled to hit middle class families across the country in 2014, was upheld by the Supreme Court based on Congress’ authority to tax. Ironically, the Internal Revenue Service, which has been charged with overseeing the implementation of ObamaCare’s tax policies, is embroiled in a serious investigation for abusing its power to target conservative political groups. The release of this sensitive information also calls into question the ability of the IRS to impartially oversee the implementation of ObamaCare. Whether the IRS can be trusted to administer the tax laws while handling sensitive health insurance information is seriously in doubt.
“Additionally, it will be middle class families, union employees, and low-wage workers that will be the hardest hit by the long-term impacts of this bill. Since ObamaCare was enacted, premiums have increased by an average of nearly $2,400. Nearly four in 10 small business owners are holding back hiring because of costs associated with implementing ObamaCare. According to the nonpartisan CBO, 7 million Americans will lose the coverage they have today—despite the president’s famous line ‘if you like your plan you can keep it.’
“It is time for Congress to repeal ObamaCare and enact common-sense, step-by-step reforms that actually reduce health care costs and increase access to quality care.”