Michael Lawler

On Wednesday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “On Balance,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) stated that “healthcare, to me, is the biggest thing Republicans need to get serious about tackling.” And mentioned “associated health plans, allowing small businesses to pool resources and buy employer-based coverage, purchasing across state lines”, along with reforms around foreign-born doctors and nurses trained at American schools as solutions.

Lawler said, “[W]hen you look at the biggest drivers of cost, it is housing, healthcare, and energy. And healthcare, to me, is the biggest thing Republicans need to get serious about tackling. If you want to bring down costs for Americans, you have to be able to focus on the challenges. It’s not enough to just say Obamacare is bad. We know there [are] problems with it. The question is, how do you fix it? And what I’ve said is, there [are] a number of ways: associated health plans, allowing small businesses to pool resources and buy employer-based coverage, purchasing across state lines. You need competition. That is a reality. We need to address workforce issues. You have a shortage of doctors and nurses, we’re educating people, foreign-born, and then kicking them out of the country. It’s foolish.”

He added, “I would dispute the argument nothing’s been done. First of all, we passed the largest tax cut in American history, okay. The average New Yorker saw a[n] over $4,000 tax cut, okay. Secondarily, we secure the border and stopped the massive influx of illegal immigration. You want to talk about driving up the cost of housing and healthcare and everything else? Democrats in New York spent over $8 billion providing free housing, clothing, food, education, and healthcare to illegal immigrants. That drives everything up. When you talk about energy, we are close to getting a permitting reform deal done before the end of this Congress. We passed housing. We passed tax cuts. We are working on permitting reform. Those are three major pillars of actually tackling the cost of living.”

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