Dear Friend,

Some businesses breathed a sigh of relief earlier this month when the White House announced the health care law’s employer mandate would be delayed until 2015. If businesses get a delay, individual Americans should get a delay as well.

This week, I joined Members of the House of Representatives from both sides of the aisle to pass a one-year delay to the individual mandate. I supported this delay for a number of reasons. 

First, I continue to support the full repeal of this law that has created tens of thousands of pages of new regulations, expands the IRS, and will cost taxpayers over $1 trillion.  I’m proud to have voted 37 times to repeal this poorly thought out law in full or in part. Delaying the individual mandate – arguably, the core of this bill – is a positive step towards eliminating the law altogether and allowing Congress to replace it with a system that gives all Americans access to quality, affordable health care.

Second, the individual mandate is bad policy that will put a tremendous financial burden on millions of Americans.  Several studies, including those conducted by the Congressional Budget Office and the Wall Street Journal, have found that insurance premiums are likely to jump significantly – especially for healthy adults – under the new law.

The White House announced the delay for the employer mandate through a blog post on their website. Constitutional scholars and Congress have since questioned the legality of the Administration unilaterally deciding not to implement part of any law. As a result, it was important for Congress to step in and go through the proper legislative process created by our Founders to not only delay the employer mandate, but also offer the one-year reprieve to millions of individuals and families by pushing back the individual mandate as well.

I understand how important this issue is for our economy, our health care system, and our families. I am monitoring the health care law very closely and doing everything I can to stop its implementation so we can go back to the drawing board and create a system that works for everyone.

Sincerely,

Kay Granger
Member of Congress