Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 3522 - Employee Health Care Protection Act

(House)

(Representative Cassidy, R-LA, and 8 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 3522 because it threatens the health care security of hard working, middle class families. The Nation is experiencing the lowest rate of health care price inflation in nearly 50 years, and exceptionally slow growth in other measures of health costs, which have combined to dramatically slow the growth of small business premiums. With health care costs rising at low rates and choices for small businesses improving through the Health Insurance Marketplace, this bill would be a major step back.

H.R. 3522 would roll back the progress made because of the Affordable Care Act and would allow insurers to deploy practices such as charging businesses more when a worker has a pre?existing condition or when it has more workers who are women than men. The bill would allow insurers to go back to capping the amount of care that enrollees receive or to excluding coverage of proven preventive care. The Administration supports policies that allow people to keep the health plans that they have. Its transition policies allow States and issuers to do just that. But, policies that reverse the progress made to extend quality, affordable coverage to millions of uninsured, hardworking, middle class families are not the solution. Rather than refighting old political battles to sabotage the health care law, the Congress should work with the Administration to improve the law and move forward.

If the President were presented with H.R. 3522, he would veto it.