GOP Rep. Boustany touts 'vigorous oversight' of health law

The leader of a House subcommittee said "vigorous oversight" by Republicans is the only way to ensure that "we can all live with" President Obama's healthcare law now that it's taking effect. 

Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) spoke to hospital executives Tuesday and cited his own efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act's long-term care insurance program as one example of how the GOP can still fight the law. 

The Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) program, or CLASS Act, was repealed as part of Washington's deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

The Obama administration had stopped implementing it in 2011, citing the challenge of ensuring the program would pay its own bills.

It took "months of oversight work" to draft a repeal bill, said Boustany, who leads the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight.

"I had to fight with our leadership earlier to even get a repeal bill in front of the House," he told the Federation of American Hospitals Tuesday.

"Leadership was pushing to just repeal the whole thing or nothing. I was able to prevail upon [them], based on the oversight we had done, to allow a repeal bill in the House, which set the stage for us to repeal this in law."

The House passed a CLASS Act repeal bill 267-159 in February 2012. Twenty-eight Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the program's end.

"I believe that vigorous oversight has to continue," Boustany said. "We have to push it further."

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