Vote Notes on Legislation

HR 1628 – American Health Care Act: YES. Obamacare is collapsing. Last year's average premium increase of 25 percent is expected to balloon by another 40 percent this year. Last year there was only one provider in a third of American counties; this year entire regions will be without ANY providers. This week we learned Obamacare policies will NOT be available at any price in almost all of Iowa. Last year, more Americans opted to pay the steep tax penalty or request hardship exclusions than chose to purchase Obamacare plans they didn't want and couldn't afford.

H.R. 1219 – Supporting America's Innovators Act: YES. Venture capital firms loan money to start-up companies. Since the adoption of Dodd-Frank, heavy government regulation has severely reduced the amount of capital loaned by these firms. Although the JOBS Act of 2012 eased the regulatory burdens on small capital venture firms, its provisions did not apply to coordinated investment pools of more than 100 investors. This bill simply raises that cap to 250, on funds with less than $10 million of capitalization.

H.R. 1304 – Self Insurance Protection Act: YES. Some employers set up their own employee health care fund, and will often buy stop-loss insurance that picks up costs above a certain amount, thus protecting the employer from catastrophic losses and assuring employees' expenses are covered. Some states are attempting to regulate these stop loss agreements as health insurance, driving them out of the market. This bill makes clear that these contracts are financial instruments and not to be regulated as if they were end-user health insurance.