Noem Says Repeal Vote Fulfills Campaign Promise

By Jenna Mann – KDLT News

South Dakota’s congresswoman says she fulfilled a campaign promise by voting to repeal the health care reform law. Democrats say the measure is unlikely to go any farther than yesterday’s vote in the House, but Kristi Noem says Republicans are making plans for replacing the law anyway.

Along the campaign trail, Noem spoke out against the health care reform, and the freshman representative did it again during her first speech on the House floor.

“It was a little overwhelming. It certainly was a very monumental moment,” said Noem.
    
Noem got what she wanted, as the House approved repealing the law Wednesday. The next hurdle for the measure comes in the Senate, where Democrats have made it clear the measure won’t even come to a vote. Still, Noem says she’s done her job.

“I consider that a promise fulfilled from my campaign and doing the wishes of what the people of South Dakota asked me to do. They asked me to come to Washington, D.C. and make sure that that bill was not put fully into place,” said Noem.
    
Republicans are now making plans to replace existing health care law, and Noem says they’ll introduce specific solutions in the next week or two. She says their bills will include Republican ideas, like buying insurance across state lines and creating risk pools. They will also keep popular aspects of the law they’re trying to get rid of.

“People with pre-existing conditions, finding solutions to get them covered with health insurance, allowing children to stay on their parents’ policies until they’re age 26, those will all be solutions you’ll see Republicans bringing forward,” said Noem.
    
The congresswoman says their bills will be presented differently than the existing law was last year.

“We won’t come in with comprehensive bills that are hundreds of pages long. We will come in with  bills that are easily explained,” said Noem.
    
Bills that may be easily explained, but not so easily passed.   

South Dakota’s senators are split on repealing health care. Democrat Tim Johnson says the debate over repeal wasted time, while Republican John Thune says he hopes the Senate will take it up.          
 

Read more at Kristi Noem for Congress