States are awaiting a decision from the US Supreme Court on provisions of the Affordable Care Act,which will require all Americans to purchase health insurance or face a fine. But Utah’s Republican Senator Orrin Hatch is vowing to repeal the law, regardless of the court’s decision. Hatch and Wyoming Senator John Barrasso spoke at a meeting of the Salt Lake Chamber’s Health Reform Task Force Wednesday morning.
Senator Hatch promised the crowd of business leaders that if he were re-elected and became Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, he would be well-positioned to help take down the Affordable Care Act.
“If we take over in the majority, we’re going to try and repeal Obamacare, and see if we can get it right,” he said.
Hatch and Wyoming Senator John Barrasso said they were currently focused on repealing provisions of the law including a tax on the medical device industry and on health insurance providers. Democratic Utah state Senator Pat Jones is on the Salt Lake Chamber’s Health Reform Task Force, and was the only one who voiced concern about repealing the Affordable Care Act.
“The question I had was how do you specifically plan to replace it? The only answer I heard was we’ll give it to the states, and let’s try to work together. I think those are squishy answers,” said Jones.
A Supreme Court decision on provisions of the Affordable Care Act requiring an expansion of Medicaid and an individual mandate to buy insurance is expected in June.
