Amodei votes to delay ACA individual mandate

Eureka Congressman Mark Amodei voted in favor of H.R. 4118 this week, the SIMPLE Fairness Act, which would delay for one year the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual mandate – that is the requirement that individuals pay a tax for not maintaining “minimum essential coverage” as defined by the ACA. The bill passed the House 250 to 160 with the support of 27 Democrats.

“President Obama has announced yet another one-year suspension of the employer mandate. In addition to the fact that he does not have the Constitutional power to unilaterally change the law, it is grossly unfair to exempt businesses from the ACA penalty without providing hardworking Americans with similar relief,” said Amodei.

“The ACA is broken. I think everyone should be exempt, not merely businesses. I hear from numerous Nevadans who are being punished by ACA regulations. Most recently, a married couple in Winnemucca shared their struggle,” said Amodei.

“Prior to the ACA they had affordable coverage they liked, noting that they never had a claim rejected. Now, thanks to the ACA, they pay a higher monthly premium and saw their deductible increase from $400 to $5,000 a year. They are in good health and have rarely spent $5,000 a year on medical care, so essentially their future costs will be out of pocket. They were also notified that their coverage will no longer be offered by the end of 2014. Does this sound like health care reform to you? The ACA has made matters worse,” said Amodei.

Since the administration’s flawed roll out of the ACA, tens of millions of Americans have experienced similar difficulties, from problems with enrollment to cancelled coverage to higher premiums and deductibles. Recognizing that the ACA rollout was going to be a disaster, the administration unilaterally waived the employer mandate tax penalty on July 2, 2013 and again on Feb. 10, 2014