Marco Rubio, Trey Radel, Delay Until Fully Functional Act

Sen. Rubio, Rep. Radel Introduce Legislation to Delay ObamaCare Mandate Until Websites are Fully Functional

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Trey Radel (R-FL) today introduced the “Delay Until Fully Functional Act,” a bill delaying the individual mandate under ObamaCare until six months after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) certifies that the exchange website is fully functional.

The Senate bill is co-sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), James Inhofe (R-OK), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Thad Cochran (R-MS), John Boozman (R-AR) and Mike Johanns (R-NE).

“It is unacceptable that Americans will soon be forced to pay a fine for not purchasing insurance when the very websites they are supposed to use for purchasing it have been rendered useless from numerous glitches and technical errors,” said Rubio. “Americans already have too many financial burdens for Washington to go adding another useless and unjust tax, especially when that tax punishes the American people for the government’s own errors. I believe ObamaCare must eventually be entirely repealed and replaced, but until that becomes possible we must continue to focus on protecting Americans from the law’s ongoing problems.”

“The President has given big business and corporations an exemption from his signature law, it only seems fair to give you and your family a break from the fine as well,” said Radel. “The Rubio-Radel bill ensures the ObamaCare fine will be delayed until the Administration can show Healthcare.gov and all other sign up options are fully functional.”

The “Delay Until Fully Functional Act” would delay the ObamaCare individual mandate and require that GAO study and report to Congress on the websites within 30 days. If the GAO study says the American Health Benefit Exchange is not fully functional and operating in a manner consistent with the role envisioned for exchanges under this act, GAO will do subsequent studies and reports every 60 days until the Comptroller General determines that the exchanges are fully functional. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general would then issue a certification based on the results of the GAO report. The individual mandate would be reinstated 6 months after the HHS inspector general certification.

The legislation has been endorsed by FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform and the National Taxpayers Union.

The full text of the Senate bill is available here. Legislation to Delay ObamaCare Mandate Until Websites are Fully Functional

Senator Marco Rubio 284 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC, 20510 Phone: 202-224-3041. Representative Trey Radel WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE 1123 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 P: (202) 225-2536.