House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Tuesday pointed to comments made by Bill Clinton in which the former president said that President Obama should do whatever it takes to fulfill his promise that if Americans like their current health plan, they can keep it.
“I personally believe, even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got,” Clinton said in a Tuesday interview with OZY.
Boehner used Clinton’s comments as a reason why Democrats should pass Republican legislation that would allow insurance companies to for one year continue to offer the existing individual market plans to their customers. The bill would not require them to do so, however.
Boehner’s statement below:
“I applaud President Clinton for joining the bipartisan call for President Obama to keep his promise to the American people. These comments signify a growing recognition that Americans were misled when they were promised that they could keep their coverage under President Obama’s health care law. The entire health care law is a train wreck that needs to go. And while the two parties may disagree on that point, it shouldn’t stop reasonable Democrats from working with us to shield Americans from its most egregious consequences – like the millions of current health plans being canceled. That’s why all Democrats concerned about the president’s broken promise should join Republicans in voting to pass the Keep Your Health Plan Act when it comes before the House later this week. President Clinton understood that governing in a divided Washington requires a focus on common ground, and I hope President Obama will follow the former president’s lead.”
