Health Care Costs and Impact on Americans $1,200:  Increase in health care premiums for an average American family in the year following enactment of the Democrats’ health care law. 13 percent:  Premium increase, in 2016, for individuals and families who buy coverage on their own – compared to if the law hadn’t been enacted at all. $118… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Republicans today demanded the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provide a full accounting for the cost of implementing and administering the Democrats’ health care law.  Two recent reports from independent government agencies raised questions about the IRS’s ability to account for the taxpayer dollars used to implement the Democrats’ health… Read more

Good afternoon and welcome to our fourth hearing in our series on securing the future of the Social Security Disability Insurance program.  Today we will focus on how Social Security disability claims are appealed and whether the process works as well as claimants and taxpayers have the right to expect. In earlier hearings we have highlighted the explosive growth of the… Read more

Today, the Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittees on Human Resources and Select Revenue Measures held a joint hearing to explore how the complexities of today’s welfare and tax systems can discourage Americans from looking for and obtaining a job.   The Subcommittees heard from several experts on welfare and work policies, including the Right… Read more

Consider three numbers — 40, 8 and 13. For 40 consecutive months, the U.S. unemployment rate has been at 8 percent or higher, and nearly 13 million Americans are currently looking for work. America is in crisis. Unemployment remains high, employers are paralyzed by economic and regulatory uncertainty that stifles their ability to invest and hire, and we are but a few short months… Read more

Today, Congressman Geoff Davis (R-KY), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, announced the release of a report prepared at his request by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  The report, titled “Supplemental Security Income: Better Management Oversight Needed for Children’s Benefits,” reviews caseload increases for… Read more

Below is a list of statements from key Democrats arguing time and again that, without the unconstitutional individual mandate, the Democrats’ health care law doesn’t work. President Barack Obama "Unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek — especially requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions — just can’t be… Read more

Washington, DC – Health Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) and Ways and Means Member Dave Reichert (R-WA) sent a letter to AARP’s Chief Executive Officer Barry Rand this afternoon seeking additional information from the organization related to AARP’s role in the formulation and advancement of the Democrats’ health care law.  The call for information comes as a… Read more

Washington, DC - On Thursday, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany, Jr. M.D. (R-LA) demanded that the Department of Treasury (Treasury) release an Urban Institute study on the Treasury’s debit card pilot program.  The program was intended to encourage taxpayers to receive their tax refunds on pre-paid debit cards but was… Read more

(Remarks as Prepared) According to this year’s report from the Social Security Board of Trustees, Social Security will be unable to keep its promises to the hard-working Americans who pay into the system.  We will hear today that not only is Social Security’s financing outlook worse, but it will also be increasingly difficult to protect benefits for those who rely on them most if… Read more