House Republicans will try to force a vote on repealing the individual mandate in the Democrats’ health care overhaul, using a procedural maneuver to score political points on one of the most controversial provisions in the health care law. Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, plans to call for the repeal under a “motion to recommit” — a parliamentary tool often used by the minority party to change bills on the House floor. Never mind that the bill Camp is using for this maneuver is a small business tax bill — Republicans want to get Democrats on the record once again saying they back a law that requires uninsured Americans to purchase health insurance. The vote could come late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Camp writes at AmericaSpeakingOut.com:
We need to repeal and replace the health care law with common sense reforms that will actually lower health care costs and let Americans keep the plan they have and like. That’s why Republicans are offering a proposal to repeal the requirement forcing Americans to buy government-approved health insurance. Twenty states and the nation’s leading small business organization agree that this law is unconstitutional and that’s why they are suing to overturn it. The federal government shouldn’t be in the business of forcing you to buy health insurance and taxing you if you don’t.