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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senate Republicans on Tuesday charged that President Barack Obama broke his promise that Americans who want to keep their current insurance coverage will be able to do so.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, along with Republican senators John Barrasso from Wyoming and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma -- who are both doctors -- argued otherwise.
The senators said new regulations being written by the Department of Health and Human Services make it clear that the public not will be able to maintain their current health insurance policies, despite assurances by the Obama administration.
"With every passing day, another one of the president's promises on the new health care law bites the dust," Hatch told reporters during a morning news conference on Capitol Hill.
One year ago Obama delivered a speech to the American Medical Association vowing that health care reform would not infringe on people's ability to maintain the coverage that they had prior to the passage of the legislation.
Throughout the yearlong health care debate, Republicans contended that the administration would not be able to keep this particular promise, among others.
"What we're seeing come to fruition is exactly what we predicted would happen with this bill," Coburn said.
Hatch on Tuesday introduced an amendment to the tax and spend extenders bill (H.R. 4213) that is currently being considered by the Senate to exempt any business from the employer mandate in the health law if that company certifies to the Departments of Labor and Treasury that it would be forced to cut jobs as a result of the employer mandate.
"The employer mandate would have the perverse effect of forcing businesses to let people go. When we've got a near 10 percent nationwide unemployment rate, I can't think of a more misguided policy," said Hatch.
Since Obama signed the $2.5 trillion health bill into law, a long list of businesses have announced that they would be forced to cut their workforce because of the law. Most major business groups opposed the recently-enacted health law because of the tax hikes and employer mandate.
