(Above: the final moments of the House vote on the “Keep Your Health Plan Act”)
On Friday afternoon, the U.S. House passed the Keep Your Health Plan Act, allowing individuals to keep their private health insurance plans even if those plans don’t meet the ObamaCare coverage requirements. Every Republican in Alabama’s congressional delegation voted in favor of the bill, which ultimately passed with bipartisan support by a 261-157 vote.
“America is over six weeks into the ObamaCare rollout and things are just a mess,” Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, said on the House floor prior to the vote. “Families are being forced into different and oftentimes more expensive plans… One person contacted me and said their premiums went up $200 a month. Another family contacted me and their policy premiums are going up $740 per month. The president promised from the beginning, quote, ‘If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period,’ closed quote. But that’s turned out not to be the case and he knew it all along.”
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, called ObamaCare “one of the biggest political fiascos that I have ever seen.”
“The President made a promise to the American people,” Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, added. “And now the House of Representatives has moved to provide legislative reassurance that if Americans like their health care plans, they will truly be able to keep them.”
Support for the GOP’s bill was so overwhelming that even some Democrats — 39 to be exact — were eager to go on record voting in favor of it. But President Obama had already issued a veto threat before the vote, meaning the legislation is very unlikely to become law.
Late last night, President Obama threatened to veto our bill to allow you to #KeepYourPlan. pic.twitter.com/dXMhsTXWtn
— Eric Cantor (@GOPLeader) November 15, 2013
The president has proposed a “fix” that would allow only individuals whose health insurance was cancelled this year to re-enroll in their plans next year. But the GOP’s bill, sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, R-MI, allows insurers to continue offering the same plans that were available before ObamaCare rules went into effect. Upton’s bill is also not only limited to a single year.
Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, was the only member of the Alabama delegation to vote against Upton’s bill.
Cliff Sims & Adam Thomas contributed to this report
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