Our legislation gives the people of South Carolina a chance to have their say about Obamacare ... Allow us to opt-out.
Support legislation allowing states, including South Carolina, to opt out of the major mandates of Obamacare.
Occurrences
Evidence
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U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and John Barrasso said they introduced S.244, the State Health Care Choice Act, to repeal and replace Obamacare by allowing states to 'Opt-Out' of its major provisions, including the individual mandate, employer mandate, Medicaid mandate, and benefit mandates.
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Congress.gov records S.244, the State Health Care Choice Act, as introduced in the Senate on 2011-02-01 and summarizes it as authorizing states to limit application of PPACA by enacting a law expressing intent to opt out of one or more provisions, including individual and employer coverage requirements and Medicaid expansion. Latest action shown is sponsor introductory remarks on 2011-02-07; the bill status is Introduced.
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Graham said he and Trey Gowdy were pushing the State Health Care Choice Act, which would allow states to 'opt-out' of the major mandates included in Obamacare. The release says the bill would let a state like South Carolina opt out of the ACA's mandates.
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Graham announced he had signed on as a cosponsor of the Patient Freedom Act of 2017, saying it transfers power from Washington back to patients and states and repeals several Obamacare mandates, while giving states three options including a state alternative and keeping Obamacare.
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GovInfo records S.1711, the State Health Care Choice Act, as an Introduced in Senate bill in the 113th Congress. The full title was to enable States to opt out of certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The action listed says Barrasso, for himself, Graham, and Ayotte, introduced the bill; it was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Graham is listed as a cosponsor.
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Congress.gov records S.191 as the Patient Freedom Act of 2017. The bill status is Introduced, with latest action on 2017-01-23: read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. CRS summarized that the bill gave states options regarding PPACA title I, including waiving title I requirements with specified exceptions. The Congress.gov cosponsors page lists Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC] as a cosponsor on 2017-01-30.
Assessments
The promise was framed as supporting legislation, not guaranteeing enactment. Graham materially satisfied that by introducing and cosponsoring State Health Care Choice Act bills that would let states opt out of major ACA mandates, including S.244 in 2011 and S.1711 in 2013, and by continuing to publicly champion the proposal during the 2014 Senate campaign. Later support for the Patient Freedom Act reinforces the position, though those bills did not become law. Because the pledged action was legislative support rather than final passage, this counts as delivered rather than merely attempted.
Graham did seriously advance the policy by introducing S.244, the State Health Care Choice Act, and later backing similar Obamacare replacement plans that would let states opt out of major mandates. But the cited legislation remained introduced and did not become law, so the promised outcome was not delivered.
Lindsey Graham did materially support and introduce legislation matching the promise, including the State Health Care Choice Act, which would have let states opt out of major Obamacare mandates. But the proposal did not become law, so the promised outcome was not delivered. His effort counts, but the result remained unmet.
The promise was framed as supporting legislation, not necessarily securing enactment. Graham had already introduced S.244, the State Health Care Choice Act, and during the 2014 Senate campaign period publicly continued pushing the same state opt-out proposal with Trey Gowdy. The bill matched the promised policy by allowing states such as South Carolina to opt out of major ACA mandates. It did not become law, but the promised action was legislative support, which he materially provided in federal office during the relevant same-term context.
The promise was framed as supporting legislation to let states such as South Carolina opt out of major Obamacare mandates, not necessarily guaranteeing enactment. Graham had already introduced S.244, the State Health Care Choice Act, in 2011, continued publicly backing the same opt-out concept during the 2014 Senate campaign, and later cosponsored related Obamacare replacement legislation in 2017 during the Senate term following that campaign. The underlying opt-out legislation did not become law, so this should not be credited as delivering the policy outcome itself, but it does fulfill the narrower promise to support such legislation in the relevant federal office context.