Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), co-chairman of the GOP Doctors Caucus, has called for a Congressional hearing on healthcare reform, with hopes of repealing it.
In an opening statement before a Wednesday hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, Gingrey said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius needs to answer whether the HHS is protecting American consumers or President Barack Obama by threatening insurance companies for raising the costs of premiums.
Gingrey said Sebelius' attack on health insurance companies is a ploy to deter attention from rising healthcare costs that he says are caused by the new healthcare reform bill.
"I think it important that we figure out what is going on here," he said. "Why are health insurers raising costs by 10 percent if ObamaCare is supposed to reduce costs? My question is this: Is Secretary Sebelius looking out for American patients or covering up the fact that ObamaCare is making their healthcare unaffordable?"
"This committee did not shy away from vilifying insurance companies in the past – I see no reason why it should shy away from holding a hearing on this issue now," he told the committee.
In a Sept. 10 letter to America's Health Insurance Plans, Sebelius said she has "zero tolerance" for plans that spread misinformation on the healthcare reform law and unjustifiably hike premiums.
She said consumer protections and out-of-pocket savings provided by the Affordable Care Act should result in a minimal impact on premiums for most Americans. The HHS estimates the effect of healthcare reform will be a potential premium increase of 1 percent to 2 percent.
Under the Affordable Care Act, Sebelius said, states have new resources to crack down on unjustified premium increases.
In the letter, Sebelius said provisions to provide access to healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act "were fully supported by AHIP and its member companies."