WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) announced today his intention to vote against HR 1865, the 2020 domestic priorities and international assistance spending bill, that would add more than $400 billion to the deficit while failing to address key Louisiana priorities. Cassidy will support the defense spending bill.
Cassidy is opposed to the provisions in the domestic spending bill that repeal the Cadillac Tax and Health Insurance Tax (HIT), which alone would add more than $350 billion to the deficit, without providing guarantees that Americans will see lower premiums.
“This legislation increases the deficit by $400B and lets health insurance companies skip out on taxes they agreed to pay in order to force Obamacare onto Americans. Now, insurance companies are making record profits and they don’t want to pay the taxes they agreed to pay,” said Dr. Cassidy.
The domestic spending bill also ignores Congress’ responsibility to reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by kicking the can down the road with another temporary extension of the program, instead of passing a long-term fix to improve accountability, affordability and sustainability. Cassidy recently introduced bipartisan and bicameral legislation to reform and provide long-term stability for the NFIP.
“What it doesn’t do is reform the National Flood Insurance Program and ensure Louisiana homeowners can get affordable flood insurance. Instead, it pushes the 14th temporary extension in the just two years. It does not address Surprise Medical Billing, does not lower the cost of prescription drugs and most of all, does not serve our country as a whole,” said Dr. Cassidy.
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