One-on-One Interview with Senator Johnson
MacIver News Service | November 11, 2013
[Madison, Wisc…] US Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) introduced a bill recently titled the “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it” Act, which aims to hold true one of President Barack Obama’s main promises about his signature health care law.Only months before individuals and families are required to have health insurance by law, many of them are receiving notices that their current plans are being cancelled due to changes made by Obamacare. On top of that, many of these people cannot sign up for a new plan because of the multiple problems with the HealthCare.gov website.
Johnson hopes to simplify at least one aspect of the law by grandfathering in any health plans in existence prior to December 31, 2013.
“Within Obamacare there was what we call a grandfather clause, but it was a phony grandfather clause. It basically said as of the date of enactment, if you had a health care plan and liked it, you could keep it as long as you made a bunch of changes to it,” Johnson told the MacIver News Service (MNS).
“What our bill does, is it takes out that mandate to change your health care plan.”
The Wisconsin Senator decided to propose his bill because he had so many constituents that were receiving cancellation notices, including a couple, each with cancer, whose premiums are going to double. Not only are Wisconsin residents losing their insurance, Johnson said that more than four million people nationwide have received cancellation notices.
That is in stark contrast to Obama’s promise that everyone could keep their plans.
“This is obvious, that President Obama, when he made that promise, repeated it over 30 times, he was being utterly dishonest,” Johnson said. “Either that, or he was totally ignorant of what was in his health care law.”
Johnson said this is a first step to try and repair the damage that Obamacare has caused. His ultimate goal is a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
“What we have to recognize is how harmful Obamacare is going to be if it is fully implemented, if it takes firm and permanent root,” Johnson told MNS. “We need to do everything we can to prevent it from taking a firm and permanent root.”
The House is expected to take up their version of Johnson’s bill this week and he is confident it will pass. Johnson said the bigger hurdle will be in the Senate, but he hopes his colleagues will join him in trying to keep President Obama’s promise.
Our full interview with Sen. Johnson is below: