Rep. Poe to Newsmax: US Can’t Afford Obamacare

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Obamacare, Congress must act quickly to repeal the legislation and stop the government from taking over patients’ health-care choices, Rep. Ted Poe told Newsmax in an exclusive interview Thursday.

The Texas Republican said the high court’s ruling removes control from patients and their doctors and puts in the government’s hands.

“The main problem of course is the Supreme Court has authorized the government, of all things, to be in control of our health. That’s not a good thing,” he said.

Watch the exclusive video here.



“We cannot turn American health over the government, of all things,” Poe said. “It still needs to be under control of individuals. We need to stop this freight train from going off the rails.”

Poe, a former judge, pointed out there are far-reaching implications of the court’s ruling that people can be required to buy health insurance since it is in effect a tax.

“The court basically found that the federal government has the power to tax. So if they do something in the name of the tax, it presumably is constitutional,” he said.

Poe said implementing Obamacare would hurt the economy.

“We can’t afford the Affordable Care Act. Set aside whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea. It’s too expensive,” Poe said.

“It’s going to be very difficult for us to pay for this and of course taxes are going up on everybody to contribute to this, and it will cost jobs,” he said.

He said many small businesses will refuse to hire more than 50 people because they don’t have the money to provide coverage for their employees – or to pay the penalty for not providing coverage. Other businesses, he said, will lay off workers so they can keep their employee rolls below the “magic number” of 50.

The Obama health care law will also take vital funds from Medicare, Poe said.

“Medicare is in trouble. Now all of sudden half a trillion dollars will be taken out of Medicare and taken to the Affordable Care Act. That will make it even more difficult to take care of seniors,” he said.

Poe said that when the Republican-led House returns to session, its first order of business will be to vote to repealing the health care law.

If the Democratic-dominated Senate does not follow suit, he said, then lawmakers will have to start all over again after the election – when Poe believes voterss will give control of both houses to the GOP.