Rep. Fred Upton’s appointment to the deficit reduction “super committee” could be a signal that Republicans on the panel plan to push cuts to President Obama’s national health care law.
The deal that Republicans and Democrats struck to raise the debt limit did not include any direct changes to the health care law, but it didn’t rule out the possibility that Obamacare could be on the chopping block within the joint Congressional committee, either. Provisions of the health care law were not granted protected status, as was the case with Social Security and Medicare benefits.
As chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, Upton has been leading Republican’s oversight efforts of the health care law. In his statement on his selection to the deficit reduction panel, Upton said, “as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I know the exploding cost of health care is at the root of our long-term fiscal challenges; it’s why our committee has already produced legislation to save taxpayers $90 billion, and that was just the beginning. Much more needs to be done to bring down health care costs, promote economic growth, and begin to tame runaway government.”
When asked about Obamacare specifically, a spokesman would not go beyond the public statement.
No Democrats on the panel would agree to a wholesale repeal of the health care law, of course, but Republicans could push to at least eliminate parts of it.
