Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Monday said the Obama administration is padding ObamaCare enrollment numbers, and said the law should be repealed if it’s net effect is to leave more Americans without health insurance.
Cassidy was referring to a tweet from Obama’s official Twitter account that said “six million Americans have gotten covered” under the law. He said that number does “not reflect how ObamaCare is failing American families.”
{mosads}He cited press reports that said about two thirds of that 6 million are people who are eligible for Medicaid, and only about 11 percent of people who signed up for health insurance under an ObamaCare exchange in December were previously uninsured.
Cassidy’s office said that data “pales in comparison to the president’s promise that ObamaCare would help the tens of millions of Americans uninsured before the law was enacted.”
“Millions of Americans are still uninsured and those who lost their health insurance and re-enrolled through ObamaCare are facing higher premiums for services they don’t want,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy has proposed legislation that would require the government to determine whether the law is leaving more people uninsured, and to repeal it if that finding is made. His Health Insurance Accountability Act was introduced last week.
“For many people, insurance has become drastically more expensive and deductibles are higher,” he said. “It also appears that more people have lost private health insurance then have gained. If this remains the case, we should repeal the Affordable Care Act.”