Thursday, January 16, 2014

Arizona Reps. Barber, Sinema Among 33 Democrats Voting For Latest Obamacare Oversight Bill

(Updated, 2:20pm, with quote from Sinema.)

Arizona Reps. Kyrsten Sinema (D-CD9) and Ron Barber (D-CD2) joined 31 other Democrats this morning in voting for a Republican bill to require the Obama Administration to provide weekly updates on the progress of Obamacare - rather than monthly.



The vote for the Exchange Information Disclosure Act (H.R. 3362) was 259-154.  It is extremely unlikely to be considered by the Senate.

The White House opposed the bill because it would impose an unneeded burden on the people who are focusing on getting the kinks out of the bungled rollout of the health insurance marketplaces.  Republicans counter that more frequent reports would help people predict possible premium increases.

Rep. Sinema issued a news release following the vote:

“The fundamentals of healthcare reform are good but the rollout of this law has not gone smoothly,” said Sinema. “This legislation improves oversight of the website and implementation of the healthcare law by providing additional information to Congress and the public. This information will demonstrate where healthcare reform is working and that Arizonans have access to affordable health insurance. It will also help us determine where implementation is falling short so that we can respond quickly and make it work for hardworking Arizonans.
“I have repeatedly called for increased oversight, reporting and analysis of the implementation of healthcare reform. That is why I led a group of my colleagues in requesting that Government Accountability Office perform an in depth and independent review and look forward to receiving their analysis. Arizonans have a right to know if implementation is progressing smoothly, and the reporting requirements in this bill can help us improve implementation and execution of the ACA.”




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