Grassley’s Work to Fix Obamacare for Iowans
- The Affordable Care Act has broken many promises and discontent is growing. Senator Grassley supported the Senate vote this year to repeal Obamacare. It was vetoed by the President. Senator Grassley supports price transparency, allowing insurance companies to sell across state line, pre-existing condition exclusions, medical liability reform, and coverage of older dependents.
- Senator Grassley is working to reverse the onerous effects of Obamacare, including the rule blocking small businesses from chipping in to cover portions of workers’ insurance premiums. Senator Grassley introduced a bipartisan bill to stop the small business penalty in Obamacare by restoring the ability of small business owners to use reimbursement arrangements that helped their workers buy health insurance, as well as pay for other medical costs, for decades before the Affordable Care Act.
- Senator Grassley led the effort to ensure that Obamacare also applies to Congress because he believes that Congress should live by the same rules it expects Iowans to live by.
Grassley’s Record on Improving Healthcare Affordability, Access and Outcomes
- Now law, Senator Grassley led the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act through the Judiciary Committee, the most sweeping addiction recovery legislation in a generation, aimed at addressing the nation’s growing heroin and opioid addiction epidemic.
- This Congress alone, Senator Grassley:
- Authored legislation to keep rural hospitals open, preserving emergency, outpatient care;
- Is leading several efforts to improve access to affordable prescription drugs;
- Authored a law cracking down on international drug trade to Senate passage; and
- Held a hearing in Des Moines to explore local efforts to fight methamphetamine.
- Senator Grassley has been endorsed by the Iowa Medical Society.
Grassley’s Oversight Work Ensured Proper Funding to Combat Public Health Crises
- Senator Grassley repeatedly pressed the Obama administration to explain why it was sitting on unspent foreign aid that could have been deployed to fight Zika immediately. Pure partisan obstruction by the Senate Minority Leader delayed the $1.1 billion bill that was signed into law last month, providing federal dollars towards a vaccine and controlling the mosquito population that spreads the virus.
Patty Judge Supports Obamacare
- Judge was an early and enthusiastic supporter of ObamaCare, in 2010 saying she couldn’t get away from the television during its passage. ‘I couldn’t stop,’ she said, ‘It was so exciting.’” (Muscatine Journal, 3/26/10)
- In 2012, Judge called the Affordable Care Act an “incredible accomplishment…70 years in the making,” and something that will have a significant impact on the country’s economic recovery. “I don’t think you separate it from the economy because when you consider the amount of your income going toward health care coverage…clearly in this country, health insurance is a driver for this economy,” Judge said. (Ames Tribune, 5/23/12)