WASHINGTON D.C.–The GOP lawmakers from the state of Mississippi haven’t been onboard with Obamacare since it first passed, and that hasn’t changed clearly.
U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) this week participated in an effort to deprive federal funding that would implement parts of the Affordable Care Act, specifically the health care reform law mandate for individuals to purchase insurance or be taxed.
“Continuous reports of delays and exemptions, combined with complex new regulations and penalties associated with that law, are affecting how families and businesses view their economic future,” said Cochran. “We are beginning to see what many of us suspected when the law was enacted: its cost and scope are too great.”
Cochran cosponsored Obamacare-related amendments Thursday during the Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the FY2014 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill.
He voted against the overall $783.4 billion bill in the end following the party-line defeat of several amendments directed at halting implementation of President Obama’s flawed 2010 health care reform law.
“The amendments offered were motivated by the proposition that more taxpayer dollars should not be directed toward the health care law if the administration cannot implement it in a manner that will not punish families, individuals and businesses,” he said.
Cochran also joined Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) in trying to pass an amendment that would prohibit the use of federal funding for the insurance exchanges if those federal or state-run exchanges are not ready to enroll people by October 1, 2013, as Obamacare mandates.
