U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in the case King v. Burwell:
“Needless to say, I am disappointed by today’s ruling. This is a bad decision upholding a failed law. Worse yet, the majority opinion fails to justify its continuation. As Justice Scalia wrote in the dissenting opinion, ‘Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is not established by a State is “established by a State.’ What logic is this?”
“Five years ago, President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi pushed a partisan, 2,700-paged health care law on the American people -- and the harsh effects are being felt today.
“The federal government’s massive takeover of health care has harmed patients, families, and health care providers. Obamacare continues to harm the very people it claimed to protect; this must stop. Until the day the bill can be fully replaced, Congress must do all it can to fix and repeal the most egregious sections that cause significant burden on New Mexican and American families. To date, eight different parts of the law have been repealed.
“Justice Scalia went on to say in his dissenting opinion, ‘Under all the usual rules of interpretation, in short, the Government should lose this case.’ Now more than ever before, it is clear that Congress must get to work to fix the damage caused by this destructive law,” Pearce concluded.
Congressman Pearce strongly supports the Empowering Patients First Act, H.R. 2300, a broad package of solutions that would repeal all of Obamacare and start over with health care reforms that include individual health pools and expanded health savings accounts, tax credits for the purchase of coverage and lawsuit abuse reforms to reduce costly barriers to the practice of medicine – so that more doctors can provide quality care for patients.