BLAME THEM: Senate GOP tried to block Obamacare rule that caused millions of insurance cancellations, but EVERY Democrat voted to save it
By DAVID MARTOSKO, U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR
Quick Facts:
- In a 2010 Senate vote, Republicans failed to block the Obamacare regulation responsible for as many as 5 million insurance cancellations
- The vote was 59-40, with every Democrat opposed
- Sen. Rand Paul told a partisan crowd last week that the rule was never part of the Affordable Care Act, but was tacked on later by the White House
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul told an audience in Charleston, S.C. last week that the wave of health insurance cancellations following the Affordable Care Act’s implementation came from ‘a regulation written by President Obama’ months after he signed the law.
And every Senate Democrat, he said during his Nov. 11 remarks, voted against the GOP’s attempt to block the regulation.
Speaking at The Charleston Meeting, an influential monthly gathering of conservative movers and shakers, Paul said Senate Republicans tried in 2010 to block an Obamacare rule that only permitted Americans to keep their health insurance policies if nothing about them was changed from year to year.
That ‘grandfather’ clause in the Obama administration’s regulations has been widely faulted for causing nearly 5 million policy cancellations, and analysts estimate that number could climb to 12 million.
President Obama pledged on Thursday to give insurers a one-year grace period, and House Republicans passed a stronger measure on Friday that would empower the companies to keep selling their 2013 policies indefinitely.
