[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 52 (Thursday, March 29, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2232-S2233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, this week marks the 2-year anniversary of 
the signing into law of President Obama's health care bill. There was 
no question that our health care system required substantial reform. In 
passing this law, however, Congress failed to follow the Hippocratic 
oath, ``first do no harm.'' The new law increases health care costs, 
hurts our seniors and health care providers, and imposes billions of 
dollars in new taxes, fees, and penalties. This will lead to fewer 
choices and higher insurance costs for many middle-income Americans and 
most small businesses--the opposite of what real health care reform 
should do.
  I find it particularly disturbing that President Obama's health care 
law does not do enough to rein in the cost of health care and provide 
consumers with more affordable choices. In fact, Medicare's Chief 
Actuary estimates that the law will increase health spending across the 
economy by $311 billion, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget 
Office says the law will actually increase premiums for an average 
family plan by $2,100. Moreover, a recent report issued by the CBO 
found that the new law will cost $1.76 trillion between now and 2022. 
That is twice as much as the bill's original 10-year price tag of $940 
billion.
  The new law also means fewer choices for many middle-income Americans 
and small businesses. All individual and small group policies sold in 
the United States will soon have to fit into one of four categories. 
One size simply does not fit all. In Maine, almost 90 percent of those 
purchasing coverage in the individual market have a policy that is 
different from the standards in the new law.
  I am also very concerned about the impact the law will have on 
Maine's small businesses, which are our State's job creation engine. 
The new law discourages small businesses from hiring new employees and 
paying them more. It could also lead to onerous financial penalties, 
even for those small businesses that are struggling to provide health 
insurance for their employees. According to a 2012 Gallup Survey, 48 
percent of small businesses are not hiring because of the potential 
cost of health insurance under the health care law, and the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office has testified that the new law will 
mean 800,000 fewer American jobs over the next decade.
  Even where the law tries to help small businesses, it misses the 
mark. For example, I have long been a proponent of tax credits to help 
small businesses cover employee health insurance costs. The new credits 
for small businesses in the health care law, however, are poorly 
structured. They are phased out in such a way that businesses will 
actually be penalized when they hire new workers or pay their employees 
more. Moreover, they are temporary and can only be claimed for 2 years 
in the exchange.

[[Page S2233]]

  Finally, I am very concerned that the new law is paid for, in large 
part, through more than $500 billion cuts to Medicare, a program which 
already is facing long-term financing problems. It simply does not make 
sense to rely on deep cuts in Medicare to finance a new entitlement 
program at a time when the number of Medicare beneficiaries is on the 
rise.
  Moreover, according to the administration's own Chief Actuary, these 
deep cuts could push one in five hospitals, nursing homes, and home 
health providers into the red. Many of these providers could simply 
stop taking Medicare patients, which would jeopardize access to care 
for millions of seniors.
  It doesn't have to be this way. The bitter rhetoric and partisan 
gridlock over the past few years have obscured the very important fact 
that there are many health care reforms that have overwhelming support 
in both parties. For example, we should be able to agree on generous 
tax credits for self-employed individuals and small businesses to help 
them afford health insurance, thus reducing the number of uninsured. We 
should be able to agree on insurance market reforms that would prevent 
insurance companies from denying coverage to children who have 
preexisting conditions, permit children to remain on their parents' 
policies until age 26, require standardized claim forms to reduce 
costs, and allow consumers to purchase insurance across State lines.
  We should be able to agree on delivery system reforms that reward 
value rather than volume and quality over quantity and that increase 
transparency throughout the health care system. And we should be able 
to agree on ways to address the serious health care workforce shortages 
that plague rural and smalltown America. Simply having an insurance 
card will do you no good if there is no one available to provide the 
care.
  In short, we should repeal ObamaCare so that we can start over to 
work together to draft a health care bill that achieves the consensus 
goals of providing more choice, containing health care costs, improving 
quality and access, and making health care coverage more affordable for 
all Americans.

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