Washington, D.C. –Congressman Rick Berg today continued in his fight to dismantle Obamacare by joining the House in passing the repeal of the CLASS Act, an unsustainable, $70 billion budget gimmick found in President Obama’s health care overhaul. The House passed the repeal today with a bipartisan vote of 267-159.

“The CLASS Act is another example of the poorly designed, unsustainable and unworkable provisions found in President Obama’s health care law,” Berg stated. “The President’s health care overhaul puts new costs upon America’s small businesses and families and threatens our seniors’ access to affordable care by cutting $500 billion from Medicare and putting an unelected board of bureaucrats in charge of making decisions affecting Medicare services and payment.  North Dakotans did not want this law in the first place, and I will continue to work to represent the people of North Dakota by fighting to put an end to the President’s burdensome and costly health care overhaul and work for real reform that North Dakotans have asked for.”

The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports, or CLASS, Act, which the Obama administration has admitted is flawed and unworkable, was included in the final version of Obamacare as a fiscally unsustainable entitlement program used to mask the true cost of the Democrats' health care law.

This fall, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius affirmed the insolvency of the program and stopped the implementation of the program.  “I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time,” Sebelius stated in a report submitted to Congress.

Last month, the House Ways and Means Committee, on which Berg serves, favorably reported with bipartisan support legislation to repeal the CLASS Act. 

The CLASS Act is yet another example of the failures of President Obama’s health care law, which was rushed through Congress soon after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, “[W]e have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”  In the past year, the House has voted to repeal a number of Obamacare provisions, including the onerous 1099 reporting provision, which was repealed under legislation co-sponsored by Berg and signed into law last year.

Congressman Berg has ardently fought to repeal President Obama’s health care law since being sworn into Congress.  He served as an original co-sponsor to H.R. 2, the “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” and spoke on the House floor in support of the repeal.  While H.R. 2 passed the House by a vote of 245 to 189, Senate Democrats blocked the House’s efforts to repeal Obamacare this spring.

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