Press Releases

The Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, chaired by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), today held a field hearing in Lexington, Kentucky to examine the health care challenges facing workers and employers in the Bluegrass State. Representatives Brett Guthrie (R-KY), John Yarmuth (D-KY), and Andy Barr (R-KY) attended the hearing where witnesses described the harmful consequences ObamaCare is imposing on workplaces, such as:

Fewer Jobs

“Health insurance has always been important to me. I already pay health insurance for full-time managers and offer to pay fifty percent for full-time employees who want it. I currently have 30 full-time and 35 part-time employees… The Affordable Care Act causes fewer jobs. Jobs are the biggest problem today. If health is to be fair, it should be the same for everybody. No exception.” – Mr. Joe Bologna, Owner, Joe Bologna’s Italian Pizzeria & Restaurant, Lexington, KY

Lower Quality of Care

“The decision to manage the [health care law] through the insurance companies is a decision that will have significant long term repercussions. We believe the four plans offered in the [health care law]… will become the de facto plans offered by the heath care companies. While some of the features of the plans like no lifetime maximums are improvements, we feel the overall coverage will deteriorate for our employees.” – Mr. John McPhearson, CEO, Lectrodryer, Richmond, KY

Costly Regulatory Uncertainty

“Even though K-VA-T has long offered quality, affordable health coverage to its full-time associates, you might be surprised by the challenges that our company, distribution network, and each of our 106 stores are facing in order to comply with this new law. Over the past couple of years, I have spent a significant amount of time attending conferences, reading the regulations, and engaging with consultants and legal counsel to interpret the Affordable Care Act and its many new rules – some of which we are still awaiting…” – Mr. Donnie Meadows, Vice President Human Resources, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., Abingdon, VA

Higher Health Care Costs

“Next year many employers in Kentucky as around this country will face significant premium increases that will force them to radically change the way they provide benefits to their employees or in extreme cases, like my client that is facing a 110 percent increase, may be forced to drop health insurance altogether and send their employees into the exchanges.” – Mr. John Humkey, President, Employee Benefit Associates, Inc., Lexington, KY

More Job Destroying Bureaucracy

“No one can deny that the toxic ingredient in today’s job market is the so-called Affordable Care Act. We have an entrenched bureaucracy in the U.S. that is now the fourth branch of our government. It will be the IRS who will ram the Affordable Care Act down everyone else’s throats but their own. I never, ever dreamed that I would live to see the day when my own government would work day and night to put me out of business.” – Ms. Barbara Jane Moores, President & CEO, BJM & Associates, Inc., Lexington, KY

“According to the so-called experts in Washington,” said Rep. Roe, “the health care law is working just fine. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the president’s top health care official, described reports of job losses stemming from the law as ‘speculation.’ The White House called the law’s perverse incentive for businesses to rely more on part-time employees an ‘urban legend.’ And the president himself has dismissed problems with implementation of the law as mere ‘glitches and bumps.’ However, news reports and personal experiences of everyday Americans reveal a much harsher reality than supporters of ObamaCare would like to admit.”

To read witness testimony, opening statements, or watch an archived webcast of today’s hearing, visit www.republicans-edlabor.house.gov/hearings.

 

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