The White House is celebrating five years of Obamacare today. The President’s website calls it a “historic law that has transformed the lives of millions of Americans.”  I would agree with his claim that it has changed the lives of millions. I would disagree with his assessment that this change was for the better.

With a price tag in the trillions, the law creates more problems than it solves. It drives up health care costs, busts our budget, stifles job growth and raises taxes on hardworking Arkansans.

In its brief five years of existence, Obamacare has managed to point every indicator the wrong direction. Access to care went down. Cost of care went up. Coverage options shrunk. New taxes were created.

I remain hopeful that the case currently before the Supreme Court will end Obamacare. While the President’s law has survived a challenge in front of the Supreme Court before, the latest challenge taking on the law’s subsidies has his supporters rightly worried. If the Court rules against the President, Congress has to be prepared to have an immediate replacement in place.

This week, the Senate is considering a budget resolution that will clear the way for the repeal of Obamacare and reserve funds for programs that will strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, expand choice, and lower health care costs. We are prepared to address this crisis with market-based reform that puts patients in control and forces insurance companies to compete for their business. An approach that emphasizes flexibility, portability and fairness, not government mandates. 

In the previous session of Congress, I voted to repeal, defund, and chisel away at parts of Obamacare. I will continue to support these efforts as we move forward in this session of Congress. We need to make this anniversary Obamacare’s last.