Legal challenges, rallies mark health reform anniversary

One year ago on Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed into law sweeping health care reform that sparked a national controversy and debate, and suburban lawmakers from each side of the aisle found their own ways to mark the occasion.

While Democrats celebrated the anniversary with a rally, Republicans were busy introducing legislation to halt the act.

Rep. Joe Walsh, a McHenry Republican, joined California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa in introducing the Constitutional Protection Act — legislation aimed at halting the implementation of health care reform until a final verdict is issued on a multistate lawsuit over the constitutionality of the law.

“At a time when our country faces an unsustainable $14 trillion debt, it is fiscally reckless to fund this morally odious and thoroughly unconstitutional piece of legislation while we wait for a final ruling,” said Walsh, an outspoken critic of the health care law who voted to repeal it in January.

Both Virginia and Florida have challenged the act’s requirement that individuals must carry health insurance as unconstitutional. Twenty-four other states have signed onto the lawsuit as plaintiffs. Illinois is not one of them.

Meanwhile, back in Chicago, Rep. Jan Schakowsky spoke at a rally Wednesday night celebrating the positive impact of health care reform. Speaking along with the Evanston Democrat were Democratic state Reps. Lou Lang of Skokie and Greg Harris of Chicago.

According to Schakowsky, 1.8 million senior citizens received free wellness visits, 47,000 young adults were eligible to stay on their parents’ insurance and 612,000 people in Illinois are no longer at risk of losing their insurance, thanks to the act.

While those at the rally observed the achievements of the health care act, they also looked ahead to what needs to be done next to control costs and increase choices of health insurance. Two bills moving through the state of Illinois are designed to stop unjustified rate increases and create a health-care exchange for individuals and small businesses to buy insurance.

But U.S Rep. Peter Roskam says health care reform needs to be more than just improved; it needs to be repealed and replaced.

“The lofty rhetoric has not matched reality, as promise after promise has been broken in just the last year,” said Roskam, a Wheaton Republican and House chief deputy whip. “If we repeal the law and replace it with a thoughtful health care initiative that allows Americans to control their health-care decisions and allows employers and providers to control health care costs, we will do a world of service to everybody that we’re trying to help.”

For now, health care reform remains as it was one year ago, for the most part. Earlier this month, a provision was repealed that had required businesses to frequently file 1099 tax forms. Decisions on the multistate lawsuit and legislation to temporarily repeal the act have yet to be made.