[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 24 (Thursday, February 14, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S734-S735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Unions and ObamaCare

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today as a physician who 
practiced medicine in Wyoming for more than 25 years, and I rise to 
continue the debate we have been having in this body about the 
President's health care law.
  Although there has been significant debate and discussion, what I 
have continued to try to do is discuss some of the many ways in which 
this law falls short of its goals and falls way short of what the 
American public has asked for when it comes to the need for health care 
reform.
  The Obama administration continues to put significant effort into 
trying to sell its health care law and tries to convince people that it 
is the answer to all of their problems. But in the words of John Adams, 
``Facts are stubborn things.''
  Despite all the spin of this administration, the American people 
continue to learn the facts--the facts about just how bad this law is 
and how much it is going to cost them personally in terms of finances 
and personally in terms of their own health care. That is why the 
President's health care law continues, this day, to be unworkable, 
unpopular, and absolutely unaffordable.
  We saw another example of this recently when one group who had 
previously supported the law learned more about what is in it.
  Back when we were debating the bill originally, labor unions around 
the country were among the biggest backers of the law. Unions sent 
their lobbyists up here to press their Democratic supporters to pass 
the law. They put out many statements saying things like, ``We need 
this health care law now.'' They held rallies right out in front of the 
Capitol.
  We saw the same kinds of demonstrations last spring when the Supreme 
Court was considering a challenge to the law. Now, I went to the oral 
arguments, and I remember one group of

[[Page S735]]

union members chanting: ``We love ObamaCare.''
  Well, apparently now, today, I will tell you, the love is gone. 
According to a recent front-page article in the Wall Street Journal, 
some union leaders now say that ``many of the law's requirements will 
drive up the costs for their health-care plans and make unionized 
workers less competitive.''
  Republicans said the President's plan would drive up costs for hard-
working Americans from the beginning. Union leaders absolutely ignored 
our warnings and supported the law anyway. Now we have been proven 
right, and we are seeing buyer remorse by a lot of the law's 
supporters. This was absolutely predictable. What is really interesting 
is the reaction. It is clear from that Journal article that many union 
leaders are angry and disappointed.
  Well, union leaders should be angry. The Obama administration misled 
them into believing their members could keep the health care plan they 
had. They should be angry with President Obama. They were deliberately 
deceived when he promised repeatedly, saying health insurance costs 
would go down $2,500 for the average family by today.
  The unions are also now lobbying the Obama administration to do an 
end-run around the law. The Wall Street Journal quoted union leaders 
saying that they were going to push the Obama administration to now 
subsidize their health insurance costs. Now disturbing comments come 
from the administration suggesting it might be willing to do just that.
  Unions have focused their efforts on trying to get the administration 
to expand access to advanced premium tax credits. The subsidies were 
intended only for people who cannot get insurance through their 
employers. That is how it was set up. Well, that means union members 
who have insurance for a plan jointly run by the union and their 
employers are not eligible for the subsidies.
  The law is crystal clear. In fact, the law lays out four conditions 
for getting the tax credit: You have to get insurance through the 
exchange, either a State exchange or the Federal exchange; you have to 
pay the premiums yourself; you must not be eligible for minimum 
essential coverage other than the plans offered in the individual 
market; and you must not be enrolled in an eligible employer-sponsored 
plan. Those are all four. That is it. So union workers covered by their 
employer or by a joint plan from their employer and the union do not 
meet these four criteria.
  Let's go back to Nancy Pelosi and that famous quote: ``First you have 
to pass it before you get to find out what's in it.'' The union bosses 
should have read the bill before they decided to support it. And if 
they had read the bill, they would have been smart to oppose it.
  Despite the clear law, a spokesman for the Treasury Department told 
the Wall Street Journal that ``these matters are the subject of pending 
regulations.'' Amazingly, one of the lobbyists for the union said the 
administration can ``create a loophole for them through Federal rule-
making.'' Create a loophole for the unions. Create a loophole.
  Well, that is wrong. The American people know it is wrong. The 
administration has no legal authority to expand access to health 
insurance subsidies under the law. This is not a matter of regulation, 
it is a matter of the law. It was a bad law--bad law as it was being 
adopted, bad law as it was being signed. It is full of unintended 
consequences. This particular consequence was spelled out 
unambiguously. Last week, 31 Republican Senators wrote to remind the 
President of that fact.
  Of course, it is not just union members who are disturbed by the 
law's effects on health care costs. Numerous reports have pointed out 
that costs will continue to rise when more of the health care law's 
mandates kick in next January. One study estimates that healthier 
people are going to see their insurance costs go up by 40 percent to 
cover the cost of insuring less healthy people. The law's requirements 
on caps on medical benefits will also cause an increase in premiums. So 
will the requirements that adults up to age 26 be allowed to stay on 
their parent's plan.
  Late last year, Blue Shield of California asked for permission to 
raise its rates by as much as 20 percent. The CEO of Aetna said rates 
in some areas could go up as much as 100 percent. That is on top of the 
premium increase of more than $3,000 the average family has seen since 
President Obama took office.
  We have got to lower the cost of health care. President Obama and the 
Democrats who voted for this piece of legislation in the House and in 
the Senate promised the law would do that. Well, it has not done it. It 
will not do it. Their plan was short on reform and long on budget 
tricks and accounting gimmicks and on empty promises.
  The cost concerns the unions raise are absolutely legitimate. I share 
those concerns and so do all of the Senators on this side of the aisle. 
But we cannot give extra benefits to union members. The problem is not 
that the law makes union health benefits more expensive; the problem is 
the President's health care law makes everyone's health insurance more 
expensive. The answer is to control costs for everyone, not just for 
special-interest groups with friends in the White House.
  We need to revisit the taxes, the fees, and the other policies that 
drive premium increases. We need real health care reform in this 
country, reform that gives people the care they need from the doctor 
they choose at a lower cost.
  When we were debating the President's health care law, some of us 
warned about the danger of writing a bill behind closed doors. 
Actually, the President warned about the danger of writing a bill 
behind closed doors until he decided that was exactly what he wanted to 
do. So he sent his Chief of Staff to do just what he said would be 
dangerous, write a law behind closed doors.
  Some of us were concerned about the special deals for special groups. 
Of course, these were special deals that would harm health care for the 
rest of us. President Obama and Democrats in Congress rejected our 
concerns. Nancy Pelosi famously said we need to pass the law so we can 
see what is in it. Well, the American people now are seeing more and 
more of what is in the law, and they do not like what they see. Now 
they are calling for all of us to do something about it. This is not 
the time for special-interest loopholes. It is not the time to make 
more deals behind closed doors. It is not the time to hand out breaks 
for one favored group at the expense of everyone else.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.