Smith Votes to Advance Legislation to Dismantle Obamacare

Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) released the following statement today after the House Ways and Means Committee, of which Smith is a member, marked up and passed reconciliation legislation to repeal a series of significant pieces of Obamacare: the individual mandate, the employer mandate, the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), the medical device tax, and the “Cadillac” tax.

“From rising premiums and dropped coverage to the abrupt collapse of CoOportunity Health, President Obama’s deeply flawed health care law continues to hurt Nebraskans,” Smith said. “The legislation passed by the Ways and Means Committee today would repeal core provisions of Obamacare, causing the law to crumble under its own regulatory weight. This reconciliation process is our best opportunity to fulfill our commitment to the American people by finally putting an Obamacare repeal bill on the President’s desk.”

Reconciliation requires three House committees – the Ways and Means Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Committee on Education and the Workforce – to each produce at least $1 billion in savings focused on taxes and spending under their respective jurisdictions. These bills are then reported to the House Budget Committee, where they will be assembled into one reconciliation bill to be voted on by the full House. In the Senate, reconciliation legislation can pass with only 51 votes rather than the usual 60-vote threshold.