U.S. CONGRESSMAN BILL JOHNSON Proudly Representing Eastern and Southeastern Ohio

By Warren Scott
Steubenville Herald-Star
Published March 24, 2012

Just days before the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments regarding the Constitutionality of "Obamacare," U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, visited a Wintersville business to call attention to its impact on small businesses.

Johnson said more than 40 percent of small business owners say they can't grow because of the financial burden placed on them by the law, which was passed on Feb. 9, 2010.

Geary Bates, president of Bates Amusements, which supplies amusement rides for area fairs, said he and other small business owners are uncertain how the law will affect them.

"It's not knowing that's killing small businesses and if you did know, how could you afford it?" Bates said.

He referred to a provision in the law calling for owners of small businesses with 50 employees and not offering health coverage will pay, beginning in 2015, a fine of $2,000 per worker each year if any worker receives federal subsidies to purchase health insurance.

Under the law, tax credits would be offered to businesses with a specific number of workers who meet certain income requirements.

Bates said he is in a unique position because he has 10 to 20 full-time employees who work year round but 60 to 80 seasonal employees, who work 27 to 40 hours a week, depending on the time of year.

Obama and other proponents of the law, known formally as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, say it will increase insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions and make insurance available to more than 30 million Americans.

Johnson is among many concerned about the reform's cost, which he said has been estimated at $1.7 trillion over 10 years. He said measures implemented to cover the cost include a $500 billion cut to the Medicaid Advantage program that provides health care for more than 15 million seniors.

"We're trying hard to overturn this thing," he said, referring to the Republican-led House of Representatives. He said the House has attempted to repeal the law 26 times, but it has been defeated by the Senate.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine reiterated Friday that he is part of that battle on the grounds it infringes on citizens' right to chose insurance or not.

Ohio and many other states have challenged the law's constitutionality because it calls for citizens to pay a fine if they don't have private or public health coverage.

Under the law, the fine may be waived if they belong to a recognized religious sect exempted by the Internal Revenue Service or in cases of financial hardship.

DeWine stated, in a press release, "As you know, on my first day in office as Ohio attorney general, I authorized our state to join the lawsuit that the Supreme Court will be reviewing next week.

"The individual mandate in 'Obamacare' that forces Americans to buy health insurance is an unprecedented and unwarranted overreach of power by the federal government. We cannot allow the government to so grossly encroach into our lives and dictate for us our personal choices," he said.