Rep. Buck McKeon

[McKeon] – U.S. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon voted Friday to restore health insurance coverage for the millions of Americans whose healthcare plans have been cancelled under Obamacare.

Despite the President’s adamant claims that “if you like your insurance, you can keep it,” upwards of 15 million Americans are now at risk of losing their insurance, as millions of cancellation notices are being sent to policy holders. The Keep Your Health Plan Act is a simple and direct one-page bill that forces the President to keep his promise, letting people who like their health care plans to keep them. This bill passed with a bipartisan vote of 261-157.

“My office has been flooded with calls from constituents who have lost their current coverage- coverage the President promised they could keep,” said McKeon, R-Santa Clarita. “These are not just people who had bad plans with bare minimum coverage, as the Administration is attempting to claim. A majority of these folks are hard-working people who have carefully chosen plans that fit their needs and protect their families.

“People just like Andrew Dawson, a small business owner from Canyon Country. Andrew wrote me after he and his wife, who are expecting a child at the end of the year, received their cancellation letter. Their baby is due December 30th, and their policy will be cancelled on the 31st. Their current plan costs $500 a month, with a deductible of $3,000 per year. It’s a great plan with full hospitalization, full maternity coverage and low co-pays. The new ACA compliant policy, that carries the same monthly premium, will more than triple Andrew’s out of pocket deductible to $10,000. To enroll in a plan with a similar deductible, his monthly premium would double. Andrew’s story is an example of one of the major fallacies of Obamacare: affordable insurance is not the same as affordable health care. Andrew planned on the $3,000 cost in having their baby. Now, if his wife delivers two days late, his out of pocket will be $10,000- a $7,000 Obamcare bill that Andrew and his new family simply can’t afford. Andrew should be able to keep his plan.

“Unfortunately, in the midst of this crisis, instead of working with the House to fix the problem, President Obama has chosen to threaten to veto this bill in favor of a temporary fix by executive fiat. Opposite of the President’s proposed “fix” of simply telling state insurance commissioners that they can reinstate cancelled plans if they so choose, this bill offers a legal and permanent solution to this critical problem, giving Americans the certainty they need instead of another temporary fix.”