INHOFE STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT’S VETO OF RECONCILIATION BILL

Jan. 8, 2015

Donelle Harder, Elizabeth-Burton Jones, (202) 224-4721

INHOFE STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT'S VETO OF RECONCILIATION BILL

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today released the following statement in response to the president's veto of the reconciliation bill, which repeals Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood.

"President Obama has proven that he will continue to defend his signature healthcare law despite the fact that, time and again, the implementation has shown that it does not lower healthcare costs, expand access nor even simply let Americans keep their own doctor, as he promised. His veto of the reconciliation bill that Congress passed shows that he cares only about the legacy of this legislation and not the American people. In Oklahoma alone, my constituents will see an average increase of 35.7 percent in premium prices- the highest in the nation. Obamacare established nonprofit health insurers that would receive federal funding, the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan, or co-op, and were intended to compete with private, for-profit insurers on the exchanges as a way to lower prices. Yet around the country, 12 out of the 23 Obamacare established co-ops have gone under, leaving more than 500,000 currently insured Americans to find new insurance once again, or face a steep penalty from the federal government. These co-ops also received over $1 billion in taxpayer loans from the federal government, most of which will never get repaid. At the same time, many other insurance companies are dropping out of the Affordable Care Act market altogether, leaving Americans with even fewer choices of doctors and hospitals. It is time that the president start to do what is right for the American people and let Congress craft real market-based healthcare reform that will actually lower costs and expand access by getting the federal government out of the healthcare business."

"The legislation also includes essential language that defunds Planned Parenthood and redirects that funding to support women's health programs at the more than 13,000 community health centers around the country. I have long opposed federal funding for Planned Parenthood, but the need to defund the agency became urgent following the release of videos by the Center for Medical Progress that revealed the organization may have been illegally profiting from the sale of aborted fetus tissue. I am proud Congress was able to pass this legislation to defend the sanctity of life and am disappointed the president vetoed it."