The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved bills to defund health insurance exchanges and a public health fund in the healthcare reform law, according to a release from the committee.
The Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bills last week.
In a letter to the committee, the AHA and National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems warned that defunding to the exchanges "would undermine the effort to insure more Americans." The letter called the public health fund "an essential element in achieving the savings potential of coordinated care for achieving better health and health care in America."
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chair of the committee, said, "These bills share a common theme: protecting the American taxpayer. Our committee said we would focus on jobs, reducing spending and repealing the health care law, and the bills passed by the committee today make real progress toward accomplishing these goals."
"In a rush to pass the health care reform package, obvious flaws were included in the final bill," he added. "Authors didn’t have time to determine the cost of a program, and blank lines in a bill turned into blank checks signed by the taxpayers."
Read the House Energy and Commerce Committee release on healthcare reform.
Read more coverage of health insurance exchanges:
- House Subcommittee Votes to Defund Insurance Exchanges
- Tea Partiers Blocking State Plans for Insurance Exchanges
- Cost of Reform Unclear Until Benefits Are Defined
The Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bills last week.
In a letter to the committee, the AHA and National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems warned that defunding to the exchanges "would undermine the effort to insure more Americans." The letter called the public health fund "an essential element in achieving the savings potential of coordinated care for achieving better health and health care in America."
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chair of the committee, said, "These bills share a common theme: protecting the American taxpayer. Our committee said we would focus on jobs, reducing spending and repealing the health care law, and the bills passed by the committee today make real progress toward accomplishing these goals."
"In a rush to pass the health care reform package, obvious flaws were included in the final bill," he added. "Authors didn’t have time to determine the cost of a program, and blank lines in a bill turned into blank checks signed by the taxpayers."
Read the House Energy and Commerce Committee release on healthcare reform.
Read more coverage of health insurance exchanges:
- House Subcommittee Votes to Defund Insurance Exchanges
- Tea Partiers Blocking State Plans for Insurance Exchanges
- Cost of Reform Unclear Until Benefits Are Defined