On the recordMarch 24, 2017
I supported this bill when it came out of the Energy and Commerce Committee 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I want to thank Chairman Walden for his excellent leadership. As he knows, I had some concerns about the bill at the time. I didn't think it addressed all the problems that we needed to address. At the start of this week, I was a ``no'' vote--a friendly ``no'' vote, but I was a ``no'' vote. Our Republican leadership in the House and the President and his senior advisers continued to involve themselves in constructive discussions with people like myself. Yesterday they agreed to put back in the repeal of the essential health benefits provision, and that is a big win for conservative values, so I am now a ``yes'' vote. My friends on the left seem to think the only way to get a benefit is to have the Federal Government mandate it and then have the Federal Government pay for it. I am here to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that markets work. If we create a healthcare market where people can choose their insurance that fits their needs, there will be plans that provide for every so-called essential health benefit. But there will also be plans that provide for specific markets of young people without children or elderly couples or whatever it is. Mr. Speaker, markets work, and you don't have to mandate benefits for those markets to work. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
