Mike Ross celebrating with former Rep. Weiner after Obamacare cleared committee.
Millions of Americans are losing their health insurance because their existing plans do not meet Obamacare’s minimum standard requirements. The Heritage Foundation estimates that 1.5 million Americans have already lost their plans; but the American Enterprise Institute is now estimating that as many as 100 million Americans could lose their insurance when a second wave of cancellations hits next fall. The real tragedy is all of this could have been avoided. Sure, Congress could’ve declined to pass the healthcare monstrosity — but there was also a proposed legislative tweak to the Obamacare bill that could’ve helped prevent much of this chaos. National Review reports:
Thirty-two Democrats helped kill a GOP amendment to explicitly allow people to keep their current health-care plans in a July 2009 House Energy and Commerce Committee vote. “Nothing in this division shall prevent or limit individuals from keeping their current health benefit plan,” the amendment, offered by former Representative Cliff Stearns, said. Many of the Democrats who voted to kill the amendment also promised to the public that individuals would be able to keep their current plans. Representative Henry Waxman, then the chairman of the committee, promised to his constituents in a recent press release “if you like your doctor and your current plan, you keep them.” But Waxman voted against the amendment that would have done that.”
Also among those Democrats who voted against the amendment — former Congressman Mike Ross. Here’s the roll call vote:
It should be noted: based on the language of the amendment, allowing Americans to keep their insurance was the only purpose of the proposed change (it’s very short — read it for yourself here). It doesn’t appear that this was some dirty legislative trick or an amendment packed with riders: this was a straight up-or-down vote on allowing Americans to keep their plans, if they liked them. Mike Ross — who says he was instrumental in crafting Obamacare — said ‘no.’
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