Dozens of people rallied Monday in front of the Georgia Capitol in support of legislation that would block state resources from being used to implement any aspect of the Affordable Care Act.
"The state must weaken (the health care law) at any turn," said Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, a sponsor of House Bill 707. "Obamacare is a terrible policy."
Spencer’s bill would prevent the state from instituting the health care law, unless the secretary of health and human services requests it from the state and the General Assembly agrees.
A second piece of legislation, House Bill 990, introduced last week also targets the health care law — albeit in a much narrower fashion. The measure, supported by top House leaders, would take the power to expand Medicaid, a key pillar of Obamacare, away from the governor and put it in the hands of of the General Assembly. The move would put expansion, already a long shot, further out of reach.
Together, Spencer said, the bills would help to cripple a law that is unaffordable and unsustainable. Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens also spoke at the event, which was organized by anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity. Olens described attorneys general across the country as a backstop against an “onslaught of federal overreach.”
Tim Sweeney, a health policy analyst with the left-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, which supports Medicaid expansion, referred to HB 707 as “an unfortunate distraction” and “counterproductive” in a state that has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents nationwide.
“The Georgia General Assembly cannot legislate away the Affordable Care Act,” Sweeney said. “State leaders could make much better use of their time working to find ways to help the large number of Georgians deprived of access to health care.”
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