McConnell calls for one-year delay in reform law's key requirement, that Americans buy health insurance

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is calling for a one-year delay in the requirement for almost all Americans to buy health insurance, followed by repeal of the federal health-reform law. The Obama administration has said it will delay for a year its enforcement of the related requirement that businesses with 50 or more employees insure them.

"But what about everybody else?" McConnell asked in a speech on the Senate floor Sept. 12. "What about the recent college grad in Louisville who’s barely scraping by as it is, and won’t be able to afford a premium increase? What about the families from Covington to Paducah who are worried sick about this law? Doesn’t the administration think these folks deserve some relief too? The same kind of delay, at least, that businesses will get?"

The Senate Republican leader noted that the Republican-majority House "passed a bill on a bipartisan basis before the August recess" to delay the individual mandate, and said he tried to likewise in the Senate but was blocked by that chamber's Democratic leaders. He said he would keep trying.

McConnell also said in his speech, "Now, I know that some of you who supported this law might be thinking, 'Well, they’ll learn to like it.' But it’s precisely that kind of 'We know what’s good for you' attitude that’s so upsetting to my constituents. It’s what got us into this mess in the first place." (Read more)