Adrian Smith: “We need a healthcare plan that involves patients and their providers. We need a healthcare plan and healthcare…”

“We need a healthcare plan that involves patients and their providers. We need a healthcare plan and healthcare coverage--insurance, if you will--that is a product that is purchased by millions of Americans on its own merit, not because of the heavy hand of the Federal Government's imposing fines and penalties even upon those Americans who are doing everything they were supposed to be doing so as to be responsible citizens in taking care of themselves. What is clear from the debate today, Mr. Speaker, is that, in the face of the failures of the ACA or ObamaCare, whichever label you might wish to attach to it--and there are certainly many failures of the plan--the administration and my colleagues across the aisle continue to advocate for the individual mandate at all costs, no matter how negatively this might impact a law-abiding individual who seeks to do the right thing. Mr. Speaker, during the markup of this bill in committee, a supporter on the committee referred to the law as a ``work in progress.'' I would say that that is a generous description of the law. If it is truly a work in progress, why would we penalize Americans--through no fault of their own for losing coverage--with fines that run hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars? We are persistently told that our only desire is to take away health insurance coverage from Americans and that we have no constructive ideas for improving the healthcare system.…”