House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said reforming health care, taxes, and regulation is the way to ensure economic growth.
Speaking at the Hoover Institution, McCarthy highlighted how the Affordable Care Act has given Americans fewer choices, higher costs, and hurt the economy by eliminating jobs.
"If we did nothing on health care, Obamacare is collapsing," McCarthy said. "The premiums continue to rise, but you know a more concerning issue about all of this is when your deductible is so high that when somebody has it they don't want to use it."
"There are roughly a little over 3,000 counties in America, 1,022 of those counties only have one choice—there's no other option available," he said. "You're taking away power from the people to choose their health care for where they want to go or have choice inside the market. So if you do nothing with Obamacare it collapses and provides us less health care."
McCarthy said the Obamacare mandate that requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide coverage for at least 95 percent of their full-time employees has hurt wages and employment.
"I heard story after story because of the 50-employee rule how they've cut the hours or they cut employment. And that's less jobs for people to have, less income that they can have," he said.
McCarthy said Republicans have numerous plans to replace Obamacare that they have put forth many times. Those plans, he said, were blocked by Democrats. He said that Republicans had sought input from relevant stakeholders, regardless of party, on what to include in a replacement package.
"Prior to the end of last year, after the election, I sent a letter to every single governor and insurance commissioner, regardless of party, give us your idea," McCarthy said. "Let's have a system that everybody can have input in, despite the way they passed Obamacare."
"Let's create a system that works, that brings greater choice, and I think the best way to do it is if you look at a better way we laid out health care but I think you go through the process, you have the hearings, you have input so everybody has an opportunity," he said.
"I don't look at it as repeal and replace, I think it's relief and rescue—we're rescuing it because it's collapsing upon itself," he said.
McCarthy also touted tax reform that is simple and fair for Americans to create economic growth.
"Right now, structure dictates behavior. We're giving the highest corporate rate, we tell you it's a world economy, go compete—but if you sell something overseas we're going to punish you if you bring it back and invest it in America," McCarthy said.
"We have to have growth," he said. "A tax code that would be successful should be simple."
"The simpler that it fits on a postcard, the fairer the process is," McCarthy said. "When we get growth back it levels the playing field for everybody to be able to rise up."
McCarthy said that regulations need to be reformed to create economic growth.
McCarthy noted that between Election Day and Jan. 5 the Obama administration had proposed 145 new regulations costing $16 billion. He also noted that 82 new major rulings had been enacted every single year for the last five years.
The House majority leader's regulatory reform proposal is the REINS Act, or Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act. The proposal says that no major ruling can go into effect without a vote from the House or Senate. The REINS Act passed the House last week and awaits consideration in the Republican-held Senate.
"You and voters across the nation have loaned Congress the power to make laws, and with this legislation the people you elected will decide whether or not major regulations get implemented," McCarthy said.
McCarthy also supports the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to cancel rules that were issued during the last months of the Obama administration.