GOP: Repeal ObamaCare if enrollment target missed

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and 19 other House Republicans are proposing to repeal ObamaCare if it fails to meet a key enrollment target by the end of March.

The Nullifying the Unconstitutional Mandate By Evaluating Results (NUMBER) Act is based on a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate, which predicted seven million people enrolling in health insurance under ObamaCare by March 31. The Obama administration has adopted that as its own goal for March, and Yoho says if enrollment falls short, the law should be taken down.

{mosads}”The Obama administration likes to claim that this healthcare law is hugely popular and is wanted by the American people,” Yoho said Thursday. “I disagree. If the Administration can’t even make their own target numbers then the American taxpayer should not be further burdened by this terrible law.”

The Obama administration released data last week saying that 365,000 people had picked a health insurance plan through October and November, and that 5 million people had used the site. The signup number is thought to be higher than the number of people who have actually purchased a plan under the exchanges.

Either way, the number is much lower than anticipated two months in, and Republicans are expected to continue next year to press Democrats to either improve the performance of the site or shut it down.

In addition to the NUMBER Act, H.R. 3784, Yoho has also introduced H.R. 3785, which would cut the pay of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius until the HealthCare.gov website is certified as fully functional.