WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers (KY-05) applauds passage of two House bills (H.R. 2667 & H.R. 2668) that will delay the ObamaCare insurance mandates for both businesses and individuals. Earlier this month, the Obama Administration gave businesses a break on the new health care law by suspending the requirement for some companies to supply health insurance for employees until 2015, but failed to extend a similar delay to individuals. Today, House Republicans voted to ensure fair treatment for everyone. 

"The Obama Administration has known for months that this health care law is a train wreck, but instead of allowing everyone make a stop at the depot, the President sent individuals head-on toward penalties, while giving businesses a break," said Rogers. "With these two bills, House Republicans are ensuring everyone has more time to purchase insurance or make the switch over to the complicated and costly ObamaCare insurance exchange, before facing more out-of-pocket expenses through federal penalties. Ultimately, we need a permanent delay, rather than this temporary relief." 

Meanwhile, the jobs report for June revealed employers are concerned about the insurance mandates. The report revealed full-time jobs declined by 240,000, while part-time jobs rose to an all-time high. 

"Employers are choosing to cut back hours for employees to bypass these costly health care mandates," said Rogers. "The full-time, forty-hour work week is already dwindling, yet the President calls his health care law 'wonderful.' Millions of families across the country are not only still left without health care coverage, but they now face getting fewer hours on their paychecks."

Additionally, the House version of the Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Services Appropriations Bill includes provisions to stop the IRS from implementing ObamaCare, including a prohibition on any transfers of funding from the Department of Health and Human Services for ObamaCare implementation, and a prohibition on funding for the IRS to implement an individual insurance mandate on the American people. With Rogers' leadership, this bill passed out of committee on July 17, 2013 and awaits House floor consideration. 

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