{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://adriansmith.house.gov/delay-health-care-mandates-should-apply-all", "Delay of Health Care Mandates Should Apply to All", "2013-07-19", "2013", "2013-07", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Earlier this month, the Obama Administration announced it would delay enforcement of the employer mandate \u2013 a major component of the President\u2019s 2010 health care law which requires businesses to provide government-approved insurance for their employees or pay a fine.\u00a0 The delay was justified by the Administration as a way to allow businesses more time to prepare for the burdensome reporting requirements created by the law.\u00a0\nWhile this is welcome news for businesses, hardworking American families and individuals have not been offered the same relief despite having similar concerns and facing comparable reporting requirements.\u00a0 I hear from businesses, individuals, school districts, municipalities, and other organizations in Nebraska concerned about the new rules and increasing costs of health care under the new law.\u00a0 There is no reason a mandate should apply to one group and not another.\nSome have also claimed the Administration does not have the authority to delay the employer mandate without the consent of Congress.\u00a0 In bypassing Congress, the Administration has not only signaled its growing concern about implementation of this flawed law, but also its disregard for the separation of power.\nTo address these problems, the House of Representatives passed two bills this week; one to approve the delay of the employer mandate, and another to give all Americans the same relief.\u00a0 If businesses need more time to comply with a burdensome law which is not ready to be implemented, then so do individuals.\nThe first bill, H.R. 2667, the Authority for Mandate Delay Act would give congressional approval of the Administration\u2019s decision to provide businesses temporary relief from the employer mandate.\u00a0 While we agree this mandate is not ready and would have disastrous economic consequences if implemented at the end of the year, the President\u2019s decision fits into a larger pattern by the Administration of selective enforcement of the law to meet its legislative and political goals.\nThe second bill, H.R. 2668, the Fairness for American Families Act would extend the same temporary relief businesses have received to the American people by delaying the individual mandate by one year.\u00a0 It would be inconsistent to postpone the onerous requirements of the health care law on businesses while hardworking families are still subjected to the individual mandate.\u00a0\nIt also does not make sense to enforce the individual mandate without the employer mandate because qualification for many of the individual subsidies to purchase insurance is dependent on the availability of employer coverage.\u00a0 If you do not know whether someone has actually been denied employer coverage \u2013 how can you know whether or not they actually qualify for a subsidy?\u00a0 This discrepancy invites massive fraud, waste, and abuse.\nThese problems are indicative of a poorly structured law which was rushed through Congress with little understanding of its complexity. \u00a0Full repeal would be in the best interest of the country, but we do not have the votes in the Senate to realize this goal.\u00a0 However, I am hopeful the Senate and the President will acknowledge the law\u2019s significant structural problems and agree to delay the individual mandate.\u00a0 The bills passed by the House this week could ease the growing concerns of the health care law and give Congress the opportunity to find further common ground to implement other reforms to lower costs and expand access to care for all Americans.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://adriansmith.house.gov/delay-health-care-mandates-should-apply-all"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0267472825944424, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}