House GOP pounces on bad ObamaCare news

House Republicans on Thursday kept up pressure on finding a legislative fix to ObamaCare, a day after the administration announced that just 27,000 people were able to buy insurance through the federal government in October.

That announcement came after several weeks of reports that millions of people who had health insurance are being told their plans will be canceled because those plans don’t measure up to ObamaCare’s new health insurance standards.

{mosads}That combination led Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) to argue on the floor today that the key promises of ObamaCare have failed to materialize.

“One of leading supporters of the act was famously quoted as saying we would have to pass the law before we could find out what was in it,” Duncan said, referring to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “Now we’re finding out all the promises, about keeping your plan if you like it, keeping your doctor if you like him, premiums would go down as much as $2,500 a year, were all false, exaggerated or at least incorrect.”

Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) called on members to support the Keep Your Health Plan Act, which the House will vote on and likely pass on Friday. That bill would allow insurance companies to continue to offer plans that would otherwise have to be canceled under the law.

“This bill also ensures that Americans choosing to maintain their healthcare plans will not face a tax penalty under ObamaCare,” Roby said.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) noted a new legal challenge that could result in a finding that ObamaCare is unconstitutional. That challenge, now in the DC Court of Appeals, says the bill violates the Constitution because it was a revenue bill that did not originate in the House. Last week, 40 Republicans filed a brief in support of that challenge.

“If these judges will put their partisanship and egos aside, if these judges will apply the Constitution as it is written and intended, if these judges will simply honor their oath of office, then ObamaCare will be declared unconstitutional because it violates the Origination Clause,” he said.

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) read a letter from a constituent who said his health plan has been canceled and that he can’t afford a new plan. The constituent said he thought government was for the people, which prompted Poe to reply, “Well, Billy, apparently the government is for the government, and not the people.”

After today’s votes, House Republicans are expected to offer more stories from constituents who have lost their health coverage, in a series of one-minute speeches on the House floor.