{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://adriansmith.house.gov/press-release/video-smith-bill-help-americans-hurt-obamacare-co-op-failures-passes-house", "Smith Bill to Help Americans Hurt by Obamacare Co-Op Failures Passes House", "2016-09-27", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congressman Adrian Smith\u2019s (R-NE) bill, the Co-Op Consumer Protection Act, to provide relief from Obamacare penalties to taxpayers who lost their insurance coverage due to the failures of the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (co-ops) created under the President\u2019s health care law.\n\n\tCongressman Smith\u2019s opening statement on the House floor on his bill, the Co-Op Consumer Protection Act.\n\n\tCongressman Smith\u2019s closing comments on his bill.\n\t\u201cThis is a simple bill rooted in fairness,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0 \u201cAmericans who lost their health insurance through no fault of their own deserve certainty rather than having to take their chances within the federal bureaucracy to avoid paying a tax penalty.\u00a0 These consumers deserve time and flexibility to find a plan which works for their unique circumstances, especially when they face even fewer coverage options and possibly having to start over on their deductibles.\u00a0 \n\u201cIt is absurd for the government to penalize consumers who tried to comply with the law but could not do so due to the law\u2019s own failures.\u00a0 Though the President continues to advocate for the individual mandate at all costs, no matter how much it hurts law-abiding citizens seeking to do the right thing, Americans should not be forced to continue to shoulder these unnecessary hardships.\u201d\n\tBackground:\n\tMore than $2 billion, largely in the form of low-interest startup and solvency loans, was distributed to approved co-ops under the Affordable Care Act. \u00a0\n\tCoOportunity Health, which sold plans covering 120,000 Nebraskans and Iowans in 2014, was the first co-op to close.\u00a0 Now, 17 of the 23 original co-ops, which received more than $1.7 billion, have closed or are in the process of closing, with the remaining six also struggling to remain solvent. \u00a0\n\tH.R. 954 exempts taxpayers from the individual mandate for the remaining months within the calendar year in which their co-op insurance plan was cancelled.\u00a0 The bill applies retroactively to individuals who lost coverage after December 31, 2013, including those who lost plans sold by CoOportunity Health in Nebraska and Iowa.\u00a0 The Ways and Means Committee, on which Smith serves, is the committee of jurisdiction for H.R. 954. \u00a0\n\tClick here to read Smith\u2019s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, \u201cObamaCare\u2019s Cascading Co-Op Failures,\u201d from November 2, 2015.", 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/press-release/video-smith-bill-help-americans-hurt-obamacare-co-op-failures-passes-house"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4751767739653587, "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"}