By Jeff Shoaf, The Associated General Contractors of America
In an effort to move quickly on what Republicans felt helped fuel their rise to the majority in the 112th Congress, the House will have a vote to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA also known by some as Obamacare) before the president delivers his State of the Union address on January 25. The vote could come as early as the first or second week of January. AGC of America opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act because it did not do enough to expand availability and control costs, so AGC will be supporting the repeal efforts in the House.
AGC will be working to develop broad based support for the repeal effort. This may include online petitions, advertising and communication with all members of the House. AGC will launch a grassroots push the first week of January. We will also begin assembling personal stories on how the PPACA (or Obamacare) are impacting businesses. For instance, in some cases companies have reported facing double digit cost increases for 2012 based partly on new mandates, but also based on the uncertainty over the regulatory process that will fill in some of the gaps left in the bill Congress enacted this year.
If you have any personal stories about how the health care bill is changing the marketplace, please forward them to Jeff Shoaf at shoafj@agc.org.