Culberson Statement on Supreme Court's Decision on Obamacare

Statement

Congressman John Culberson (TX-07) today issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court's decision in King vs. Burwell:

"Today's ruling confirms that the only way America can repeal Obamacare is through the ballot box with a Republican President and a Republican Congress. Justice Antonin Scalia is correct in his dissenting opinion in King v. Burwell when he said that the "overriding principle of the' Roberts Court is that "The Affordable Care Act must be saved.' The majority opinion openly admits that they have rejected this important challenge to Obamacare "because it would destabilize the individual insurance market in any State with a Federal Exchange, and likely create the very 'death spirals' that Congress designed the Act to avoid.' (See page 15 of the opinion).

Once again, the Roberts Court is legislating from the bench. As Justice Scalia says in his dissent, "Rather than rewriting the law under the pretense of interpreting it, the Court should have left it to Congress to decide what to do about the Act's limitation of tax credits to State Exchanges...Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is not established by a State is 'established by a State.'' (See page 19, page 2 of dissent).

"President Obama promised his health care overhaul would lower costs and improve access to care. But five years later, all we've seen are rising premiums, cancelled plans, and a failed website with a $1.7 billion price tag. Millions of Americans lost their health insurance plans and were forced to buy new, more expensive policies. Despite the Administration's claims that premiums would decrease by $2,500 for an average family, individual insurance premiums increased by 50 percent in 2014 alone. Premiums are expected to increase another 12 percent next year.

"House conservatives will continue using the power of the purse to try to defund Obamacare. Yesterday, my committee passed the fiscal year 2016 appropriations bill for the Departments of Health and Human Services and we defunded Obamacare and rescinded funding for the so-called "death panels' and other onerous parts of the law. House Republicans have voted 61 times to repeal all or part of Obamacare, and in the election last fall, the nation decisively rejected President Obama's agenda. I will continue to work ceaselessly to repeal and defund Obamacare."

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