CHESTERFIELD-House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor says House Republicans want to replace the federal health care law by addressing malpractice reform and insurance competition across state lines.
Cantor, a Republican from the 7th District, visited Cranemasters-a company south of Richmond that rebuilds and services railroad crane equipment-Friday to talk with small business owners about the Affordable Care Act.
Cranemasters is run by brothers Brian and Barry Isringhausen, who told Cantor they had to lay off employees and cut their employer share of health benefits during the recession.
Brian Isringhausen said he expects tax impacts of the Affordable Care Act to hit businesses like his hard.
Cantor’s House Republicans have voted nearly 40 times to repeal all or parts of the ACA.
Cantor and many Republicans have worked since the bill was passed to overturn it, arguing that it could increase the cost of health insurance and burden businesses that are still trying to recover from the recession. Supporters of the bill argue that it will help lower-income people and small businesses obtain health insurance coverage that they may not be able to afford now.
Backers and opponents of the new law each plan to spend millions on advertising for and against it.
Cantor said Friday that they don’t plan to replace it with their own Republican-engineered omnibus health reform plan. Rather, Cantor said, Republicans continue to work on multiple bills that would address the cost of malpractice insurance for doctors, existing limits on insurance companies doing business across state lines, and giving individuals and employers more control over what kind of coverage their insurance plan provides.
“I don’t necessarily believe a comprehensive omnibus bill is what people are looking for,” Cantor told reporters after the meeting. “We’re trying to focus on solutions we can get across the finish line.”
During the meeting, he told the audience of business owners-who were invited by the National Federation of Independent Businesses-that one thing House Republicans want is tort reform, to lessen the prevalence of malpractice suits.
“The cost of defensive medicine has added significantly” to the cost of health care, Cantor said, referring to tests and other doctor-provided care that’s not necessarily needed, but is done out of fear of being sued.
Cantor, who has always opposed the ACA, talked to the audience about increased costs businesses could see as a result of the law’s mandates, and said businesses’ uncertainty over how the law will affect them has led some to postpone hiring or expansion.
During a question-and-answer period, the questions ranged from what kind of cost increases businesses could expect to see, to how Republicans would replace the ACA.
“We would like to go and get all this delayed, repealed,” Cantor said.
Cantor said the Obama administration’s recent decision to postpone enactment of the ACA’s requirement for employers to offer health insurance is proof that the ACA won’t work.
“This health care law provides one of the biggest threats to job growth out there today,” Cantor said. “Although the intent might be good, it just missed the mark. This law is not going to work. It’s going to push people onto government-paid care. We’re going to continue to press this case.”
This week Reuters reported that congressional Republicans are launching an organized attempt to counter the ACA’s implementation, including town hall meetings and protests, and attempts to discourage people from signing up for the health insurance exchanges created through the bill.
Cantor said his Friday event was not part of some organized push, but was “very timely given the White House’s move admitting Obamacare is flawed.”