Mike Rogers: Repealing and replacing Obamacare 

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healthcare Obamacare Congress

Every day, my staff and I hear horror stories from folks back home about the devastating impacts of Obamacare.

Folks in the Third District have lost their insurance plans and seen their premiums and deductibles rise for the past seven years. Obamacare has also created an unworkable regulatory environment for doctors and hospitals. Small businesses are crippled by the increased regulations and taxes.

It’s very simple to understand – Obamacare doesn’t work, nor will it get better. This march toward a single-payer system is unacceptable. The choice is clear – we have to repeal and replace this law.

With the change in the White House, we finally have a chance to repeal and replace Obamacare.

President Donald Trump and Congress are working on legislation that will result in lower premiums, increase access to quality healthcare, reduce the federal deficit, and make major entitlement reform by capping Medicaid spending.

Obamacare became much more than just a law. Under President Barack Obama, Obamacare grew into a massive regulatory nightmare.

Make no mistake – these regulations will take more time to undo. The Trump Administration will take the lead there with my full support.

Republicans in Congress will repeal the multitude of taxes that came with Obamacare, which will provide some much-needed relief for middle-income Americans and small business owners.

Further phases will continue to provide relief to Alabamians, while ensuring our values we hold dear are protected.

This effort will increase choices for consumers and allow the free market to take hold of the insurance market to reduce costs, something that Obamacare aimed to do the opposite of.

With President Trump’s strong leadership and Congressional action, Americans will finally experience relief from the crushing weight that is Obamacare. I will continue to fight for the healthcare freedoms folks in Alabama want and need.

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Mike Rogers is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District.

9 COMMENTS

  1. I want to know where these people in the 3rd district are that you allude to. I live in the 3rd District. I am not a Congressman, or any type of politician. I do not have a huge group of people around me to judge. As for myself, and every single person I do know, Obamacare has been a huge success. Do you think to just keep telling us how bad it is and we will believe it in spite of what we actually see and experience? The replacement GOP bill is a sham, and will harm many in your district and the entire country. Do you think we will vote for you again once the bill you are voting for is reality and we are experiencing that reality? And why do you ignore the fact that the only people this bill provides any real benefit to are the rich and powerful? Why is that a necessary part of this bill? Vote yes if you must. We the people will do our own repeal and replace on your job.

  2. I was hoping that you would put the people you are supposed to represent ahead of the party line. Clearly, I misjudged you. As you are probably aware, at least I hope you are, that most of the problems with the ACA stem from the governor’s refusal to accept expanded Medicaid. I know many people who fell into the gap that expanded Medicaid would have picked. My son is one of those people. He would have health care for free or close to it. As it is he has a couple of hobbled together policies that cover catastrophic illness or accidents if he is hospitalized and precious little other coverage. I would wager a guess that the horror stories you hear come mostly those who fall into that gap. I also know that ACA has saved many lives that would have been lost without ACA. If you and your fellow republicans bothered to have town hall meetings or found some other way to speak to the people you supposedly represent, you would know that people are terrified at the thought of losing their Insurance. I believe that the choice is not as clear as you think it is. As far as “Trump’s strong leadership” is concerned, be very careful not to follow him too closely. It is truly disheartening to me that the party of strong family values and who’s members hold themselves up as Christians are willing to follow a man who is a racist, xenophobic, sexist “grab them by the pussy”, lying, white supremacist kind of person. That actually says a lot to me about his followers. I have voted for you in the past because I thought you were a person who had compassion and concern for the people of this district. It is a mistake that I won’t repeat again.
    For the record, I am neither a democrat nor a republican. I have never voted for a straight party in the 50+ years I have voted.
    I live in Anniston and will be happy to talk with you when you are not in Washington for most of April. I promise not to yell at you.

  3. I’m sure all the voters in your district do not support Trumpcare, because I have called your office several times and left messages of my opposition to this bill. The Republican “healthcare” bill , if passed, will only cause higher premiums for most of us, in addition to total loss of healthcare coverage for millions. How can you call that a better plan?? Why, in 7 years, have you and other Republicans in Congress not tried to pass improvements to the ACA ?? Seven years and not one try to make improvements! I do NOT want you to repeal ACA, but make improvements-which cover all citizens and a reasonable cost without regard to pre-existing conditions, maternity coverage, prescriptions and all other medical services that all people use. My preference would be single payer coverage for all, possibly like Medicare or at least a healthcare policy like you have.

  4. As long as small businesses can get rid of the burden of taking care of their employees, sure yeah, let’s kill poor people. Worth it! Thanks for standing up for the 1% of our state who own small businesses so the rest of us have to fight the insurance industry to be taken care of. True hero.

  5. Mr. Rogers, if you ever talked to any of your constituents other than your donors, you would find plenty of support for Obamacare (ACA). You seem to have forgotten that you have lots of ordinary people living in your district and that they helped elect you. Well, guess what? They can and will unelect you if you don’t start representing our needs as well.

  6. I completely support this bill, and hope you plan to vote for it. This country was built on the backs of small business, and yes….. they are people. Our company pays for employee AND family coverage for our employees and are able to do so because we are somehow able to make a profit. Those that have never struck out on their own don’t really care about profit and see it as a dirty word. It happens to be what makes the world go around. Obamacare has been a huge detriment to our little company and we have been unable to hire more people to do the work. The current employees work harder and longer, when we would rather grow our business and add employees. That is certainly a better alternative than unemployment. The current bill still offers help for those that need it. The problem is the older people with pre existing conditions are signing up while it is more advantageous for the young people that are healthy to pay the penalty rather than the premium. It is unsustainable!!!! It can not work, and raising taxes is slowing the machinery that drives this country to growth! Vote yes! It isn’t perfect, but it is an improvement. Obamacare is a disaster that is unraveling every day. We can be proactive or wait for the fall out. That is the inaction that kills businesses and careers!

    • Mr. Smith, your stinginess is showing as well as your disdain for workers, the poor and the elderly.

  7. It is obvious that you have purposely used “alternate facts” in your “assessment” of the wishes of your constituents re health care. First, you have not had a public town hall meeting in your district in months, maybe years. Your committee travel time seems far more important to you. Frankly, I have doubts about your involvement in military defense matters since you have never even served in the military.
    I have visited your Anniston office on several occasions, along with other constituents. When there, we are asked to fill out a form with our comments. There has been newspaper coverage as well as on-air TV news coverage on numerous occasions. The vast majority of comments are that they are thankful for the ACA but understand that some adjustments need to be made. They were not in favor of some “new” bill that your party trumps up.
    Your party decided to throw the baby out with the bath water or reinvent the wheel to suit your party’s corporate beneficiaries–billionaires who would receive huge sums of money from the repealed ACA, the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies.
    This shows me, yet again, how of touch you are with real people. The losers here are your constituents, rural hospitals, doctors and many others.
    While your party might have a majority in Congress, you do not have a mandate in the presidential office. Why is it impossible for you to consider working with Democrats to come to a resolution that might work for both sides? All we’ve ever asked is for you “To Do The Right Thing For Your Constituents”

  8. As a physician in Anniston, I find it very disheartening that you are so sadly misinformed. Any failures of the ACA that I have seen have been because of this state’s refusal of the medicaid expansion. Patients struggle to obtain services and physicians struggle to maintain their practices when politicians decide that there isn’t enough money in the budget and cut payments. The medicaid budget is high in this state because there is so much poverty due to the lack of opportunity and employment, and the inability of people to live on the poverty level wages paid here. Of course, since you are not here often, it would be hard for you to know how your constituents are faring. You certainly seem to be well informed as to how to line your own pocket with special interests, as do your Republican peers in Washington. Your “alternate facts” do not alter the truth–try to acquaint yourself with reality for a change.

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