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Rep. Marsha Blackburn to Newsmax: How I Plan to Repeal Obamacare
Thursday, January 29, 2015 11:49 AM
By: Courtney Coren
As Obamacare is facing further scrutiny while Americans are forced to deal with the tax implications tied to the healthcare law, Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn has introduced a measure in the House designed to repeal it.
"One of the things I have supported is the across state line purchase of health insurance," Blackburn told J.D. Hayworth and Miranda Khan on "America's Forum" on Newsmax TV Thursday.
"This is a concept that I've worked on for about seven years, and we have filed the bill again, it's called The Health Care Choice Act of 2015," she said, adding that it's the same bill that she has introduced in previous years.
"What this would do is to repeal Title I of Obamacare and that is the insurance section of Obamacare," the Tennessee Republican said.
"Title I handles all your insurance provisions. When you repeal that entire section, you get rid of the individual mandate," she said. "You get rid of forcing individuals to make this purchase, and then you also will get rid of the excise tax that is put on every insurance policy."
According to Blackburn, "the added bonus is — by opening up this insurance market and allowing people to buy whatever they want, they also get portability because they own, not the employer ... the health insurance policy."
The Treasury Department has said that six million taxpayers could face a penalty because they did not sign up for health insurance during 2014.
In addition, a report from the Congressional Budget Office says that the federal government is expected to pay $50,000 for each person who has Obamacare health insurance, which is a total of $1.35 trillion.
Blackburn said that, according to the CBO estimate, "you're looking at 37 percent of the federal budget going to healthcare to cover this cost."
"People are saying, 'wait a minute, I'm paying more, I have fewer options, and I have fewer choices and physicians, and I can't keep the physician that I've had?'" she said.
"The individuals, as they look at the limited options and the narrow networks that are in Obamacare, and couple that with the fact that the cost has not gone down, the cost is going up ... what they're saying is, 'you all need to get rid of this,' and they're exactly right," she said.
Blackburn said that "by passing the across state line purchase of health insurance, which is The Health Care Choice Act, you allow individuals to shop for what they need."
