WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Bill Cassidy introduced the No Obamacare Mandate Act and The Employee Health Care Protection Act to start moving forward on repealing Obamacare and replacing it with patient-centered solutions for Americans.
These are Dr. Cassidy’s first legislative bills introduced as a U.S Senator. He is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
No Obamacare Mandate Act
Repeals the medical device tax, the employer mandate, and the individual mandate.
The Employee Health Care Protection Act
The ‘“If you like your health plan, you can keep it” bill,’ will allow healthcare plans currently available on the group market to continue being offered through 2018. Small businesses and their workers would have the option to choose plans that are not in the Obamacare exchanges. Those who choose to enroll, or keep their non-compliant health care plan, would not face a penalty under Obamacare’s individual mandate. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) also confirmed that this bill would lower the deficit by $1.25 billion. The Employee Health Care Protection Act was previously introduced and passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on September 11, 2014.
Dr. Cassidy offered the following statement:
“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. This was the promise made to the American people and it should be honored. I hear from patients and constituents that insurance premiums have increased as much as 250% and out of pocket costs are much higher. Repealing Obamacare and replacing it with solutions that give patients the decision making power is my goal. This is one step of many in achieving that goal.”
Meet Dr. Cassidy
For nearly three decades, Dr. Cassidy has provided care for uninsured and underinsured patients in Louisiana’s charity hospital system. During this time, he co-founded a clinic to provide free dental and health care to the working uninsured. He also created a private-public partnership to vaccinate 36,000 greater Baton Rouge area children against Hepatitis B at no cost to the schools or parents. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he led a group of health care volunteers to convert an abandoned K-Mart building into an emergency health care facility to help hurricane evacuees. Dr. Cassidy joined LSU Medical School following his tenure at Earl K Long hospital, where he taught medical students and residents while treating the uninsured. Dr. Cassidy is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
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