Beech Tree News Network

At a time when many Americans are rightly frustrated with Washington and how difficult it is to actually get anything done, I am proud to have led a bipartisan coalition to ensure that 88,000 hard-working Kentuckians won’t be dumped into Obamacare come January. 
On October 7th, President Obama signed into law legislation that I introduced in the House of Representatives to prevent an Obamacare provision from being enacted that would change the way small and mid-sized businesses are categorized for health insurance purposes.   Without action, millions of American workers would be subject to new regulations on their health care plans, and many plans would see rate hikes, additional regulations or even worse – no longer be offered.  Expanding the small group market would bring even more uncertainty to these businesses, preventing them from looking to hire more workers, or be able to make sound benefit decisions.
In March, I introduced H.R. 1624, the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act, which grants states the flexibility to define the small group market under the current definition of 1-50 employees or expand it to those with fewer than 100 employees.  Expanding the definition of the small group market, as Obamacare was set to do, would have greatly limited choice for consumers and created more instability in the insurance market by effectively shifting even more control of insurance regulation from states to the federal government.  A study by Oliver Wyman estimated that if the Obamacare provision went into effect, two-thirds of employees in the small group market would be subject to an average premium increase of 18 percent. 
As was the case with numerous other provisions in Obamacare, many employers were unaware about this provision and its impact.  As 2016 rate announcements grew closer, more businesses were made aware of the impending changes and employers and employees alike quickly contacted their Members of Congress.  And with that, came a huge swell of support for H.R. 1624.
At the end of September, the PACE Act had overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House and Senate and both chambers unanimously passed the bill.  At a time when Washington is riddled with partisan rancor and nothing seems to be done easily, Congress acted quickly in a bipartisan manner to protect hardworking Americans from Obamacare’s newest mandate.  Within a matter of days, the PACE Act was signed into law.
Prior to the bill’s enactment, President Obama had only signed 57 bills into law.  Most of those were must-pass legislation funding essential government services and programs, and many of the rest were non-controversial bills such as renaming local post offices.  That makes the enactment of the PACE Act, which chips away at Obamacare, that much more important.
Enacting the PACE Act is a huge victory for American workers.  By preventing more overreach, we are able to ensure that these employees are not being kicked off their current plans, saddled with new mandates, and hit with skyrocketing premiums.
President Obama famously said, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.”  I’m glad we were able to work together and develop a solution that allows Kentucky workers to keep the plans they like, because Obamacare as written certainly didn’t live up to that promise.  

By Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02)