[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 130 (Friday, September 27, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5914-H5917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OBAMACARE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Gohmert) for 30 minutes.
Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I heard our President in a speech that I
heard this morning say that in essence people who watch Fox News think
ObamaCare is terrible, there are all kinds of problems. I sure hope
that our President will start watching something besides CNN or MSNBC
so he can find out that everything he's done is not made of gold, that
people are hurting across America.
They heard him when the President promised that if you like your
insurance, you'll get to keep it. He said it over and over and over and
over: if you like your insurance, you can keep it. He made that speech
across the Nation over and over and over.
He said that if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. It
turns out that wasn't true. If you like your insurance, you're probably
going to lose it or it's going to cost a whole lot more. That's what
people are finding across the country.
So I appreciate my colleagues talking about and actually saying some
of the same things about ObamaCare that they said 3\1/2\ years ago. The
trouble is now that ObamaCare is upon us and people are being hurt.
They've lost their insurance, and they've lost their doctor. They can't
afford the extra thousands of dollars it is costing. I think it was
PolitiFact that took a shot at me for accurately saying it would cost
people thousands of dollars if they were at 133 percent of the poverty
level, that they'd have to buy the insurance or pay the extra income
tax.
When you get down to it, even their article that criticized me
pointed out at the end that still, with all of the government
subsidies, it was still going to cost a few thousand dollars. That was
the estimate. It's costing people money they don't have. They're
getting less care, not more. And I don't have to just give opinion on
that. We've got case after case, email after email from real Americans
that have seen the harm it's done.
A young friend that I have tremendous respect for across the aisle
pointed out, from his limited experience, that Congress has worked in a
very partisan way the last few years. What he doesn't realize is that
in the 4 years the Democrats controlled the House, they presided over
the Congress that had more closed bills--that meant they didn't allow a
single amendment. They ostracized nearly half of the country from being
represented because they did not allow a single amendment to more bills
than any other Congress in the history of our country. It was the most
ruthless, partisan, overreaching Congress in the history of the
country. It was unbelievable.
So it gets a little difficult to hear leaders who were in charge
during the four most oppressive partisan years when it comes to having
input from the other side tell us about responsibility and
bipartisanship when they showed what they think when they were in
charge. It was really quite mean.
We were told by our colleague earlier that Republicans gave us
sequester. I encourage my friends across the aisle to go back and look
at accurate history. It was the President who proposed sequester. I
didn't think it was a good idea at all. That's no way to really
legislate. We should have made the difficult choices and made the cuts.
Then to hear comments that the Democrats believe freedom has made us
great, I absolutely do, too. But freedom has a price. Freedom requires
responsibility from Americans. It requires that everybody be involved,
that everybody pay attention to what the government is doing.
So for those who have said for so long, I don't care what the
government does as long as they stay out of my business, if that's your
approach, the government does not and will not stay out of your
business. It gets to where we are right now with ObamaCare. Every
American's most private secrets about their own personal and private
health will be kept by the Federal bureaucracy headquartered in
Washington. The records may be kept elsewhere. I think the
administration made a deal with GE. So GE and the Federal Government
will have everyone's most personal secrets. It's a good thing they can
keep a secret in the Federal Government so that nobody's
[[Page H5915]]
personal records will be leaked out once they get into the possession
of GE or the Federal Government.
But for my friends across the aisle to talk about hostage politics,
all I know is that people that I talk to across my district--I think
the lowest denominator probably ended up at 500 to four that gave
examples or talked about how bad ObamaCare was. You'd have a few people
that said, Well, actually, we got our 26-year-old on our health
insurance, so it's not so bad. Gee, the Republicans were ready to agree
to that. We were ready to do bipartisan bills, but the most closed-
minded and closed Congress in our history would not allow input. They
didn't want our input. They were going to do it all themselves. As a
result of that kind of mean-spiritedness, Americans are suffering
today.
I have my friend from Texas, also a former State district judge. As I
understand, he has heard from his constituents, as well. I yield to my
friend from Texas.
Mr. POE of Texas. I appreciate the gentleman yielding some time.
Earlier this morning, I was reading some emails and Facebook posts on
my Facebook from people with the question that I asked: How does
ObamaCare affect you? We ran out of time earlier this morning. Unlike
the Senate, we can't talk until we're through talking, as you know.
I'm going to read a few more of those in the next few minutes from
some of these folks that I received comments from in my district and
people on Facebook this morning.
Tonya told me:
My family's insurance premiums have tripled since ObamaCare
was signed into law. I'm not sure how much longer I will be
able to keep it.
Pam says:
The huge chemical plant my husband works for has made
changes to his benefits package, which include higher
deductibles, co-pays, and loss of some prescription drug
benefits--all done in the anticipation and implementation of
the health care act. He works hard, I am a public school
teacher, and we want to send our daughter to her dream school
upon graduation this year: the University of Texas.
Mr. Gohmert and I may have a disagreement on that. Anyway, they want
to send their daughter to the University of Texas, and she continues:
More coming out of our pockets for health insurance means
less available for college. Please help.
Shannon says that because of ObamaCare:
Premium doubled, all co-pays went up. So I had to change
employers because of the law.
Brandy:
I am the finance manager for a non-profit company with 16
employees. We may not be able to offer health insurance next
year.
Linda, who I went to high school with said:
I'm feeling the pain of ObamaCare today. My doctor's office
told me this morning that my insurance company will no
longer, they have in the past, cover a procedure for my knee.
I will now have to pay $1,080 out of pocket.
Asked if this was a result of ObamaCare, she replied in the positive.
Also, TRICARE won't cover it and my doctor dropped Medicare
coverage. Expensive.
Matthew says, I'm an outlaw now. I'm a subcontractor, and I just
can't afford ObamaCare.
Kristin:
If I could afford insurance, I would already have it. This
forces me to buy something I can't afford.
Jenn says this:
Deductible went up, co-pay went up, I have thyroid problems
and have to have it tested one to two times a year. Insurance
always covered the test. No longer covers it. I'm still
trying to figure out the ``affordable'' part of the health
care when my costs keep getting higher.
Here's what Kristy says about her family business:
Family business has had a 47 percent increase in cost to
company since ObamaCare was passed. Will have to cut
somewhere.
David:
I am a U.S./Texas citizen living in Bahrain/residence in
Bahrain. My employer provides my insurance in Bahrain. I am
told I have to buy a U.S. policy or pay a penalty.
And Teddy, the last one, presents a rough situation for people he
cares about:
My fiance went from 40-plus hours a week to 27 hours
because her employer said they had to in order to avoid
penalties from ObamaCare. My sister has been told that her
test and some of the medicines for her MS will not be covered
because ObamaCare mandates say she is no longer going to be a
``viable'' person at the age of 50.
These are real people who have contacted me today about the effects
of ObamaCare. Contrary to what the folks on the other side have said
for the last hour, it's not all great for a lot of Americans. It's a
tough piece of legislation. It affects people's health. It affects them
financially. This law turns over America's health to the Federal
Government. There's got to be a better way.
I appreciate the gentleman from Tyler yielding me some time.
{time} 1330
Mr. GOHMERT. Reclaiming my time, real people being hurt in real ways
is what ObamaCare is doing. And for those who think it is a good thing,
those were people that would have been helped by either side of the
aisle.
But it should be noted that insurance companies, under ObamaCare, are
paying an additional tax to the Federal Government. Everybody is having
to pay more for everything, and yet they're getting less health care.
I get questions: Why, under ObamaCare, are we now going to see
everything--we've already gotten notice, it's so much more expensive,
and yet we're getting less coverage, less health care, higher
deductibles, those kinds of things.
Part of that answer is, well, we've got to pay for the 18,000 or so
IRS agents who are going to be hired to help you with your health
insurance so they can monitor more closely what you make and what you
spend it on and whether you are spending enough on health care and how
you are spending it. But we've got to pay for all the IRS agents. Now,
that's not going to help anybody's health.
But then you also look at all the navigators that are being hired,
and that's a problem. I saw over $1 billion was about to be spent on
advertising to tell Americans how good they were going to feel under
ObamaCare. All of those things end up coming out of the coverage and
the health care that people would otherwise get.
I see my friend from Pennsylvania has arrived, and I yield to him at
this time.
Mr. PERRY. I would like to thank the gentleman from Tyler, Texas, for
yielding to me.
I would just like to talk about what many Americans hear talked about
in Congress but maybe can't put a face or a name to, and that is access
to care. What does that mean, ``access to care''? And our claim is that
ObamaCare reduces access to care. ``Access to care'' is your ability to
have a doctor take care of you or some kind of practitioner take care
of whatever your health care need is. I think it's important that we
show examples of that.
So, as of right now, on January 1, thousands of Americans are at risk
of losing their lifesaving dialysis treatments which they need to
survive. We're not talking about, I need to have my bunions
reconfigured. We're not talking about, I've got a skin tag or I have an
upset stomach. We're talking about dialysis. People who are on dialysis
must have it on a regular basis to live.
I visited a dialysis clinic with 25 machines that operate 6 days a
week in the Fourth Congressional District. Mr. Speaker, 6 days a week,
25 machines, all day long people come in, and it serves primarily the
underprivileged population of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which is the
capital. That's its primary clientele. And the gal there that was
running the place told me that on January 1, if ObamaCare continues to
go through, they will cut their operating hours from 6 days to 3, 3
days a week from 6. So those 25 machines will be idle half the time
that they're currently being used. That's 50 percent.
Now, Medicare payments already fall very short of covering the entire
cost of this, but this clinic makes up the difference by the other
paying customers. And I would ask the folks that support ObamaCare, do
they really think that the rich in this Nation are going to go without
access to care? We've heard about concierge medicine. The rich are
going to continue to receive care one way or another. But it's the
poor, it's really the abject poor that are going to suffer under this.
[[Page H5916]]
I just want to put some names to this. I met a Vietnam veteran named
Johnny. You know, people think, Oh, if you have dialysis, you've got
diabetes. You didn't take care of yourself. This man is fit, doesn't
smoke, and does take care of himself, but he just happens to have
diabetes. And he comes into this clinic, and he needs to come in more
than once a week. So when you go from 6 days to 3 days, Johnny is going
to have to look for some other way to get his dialysis.
And then there's Amy. Amy comes in a couple times a week and hooks
herself up. She comes and knows it so well that the people there that
are actually administering the service and the care don't have to do
that work for her. She comes in and takes care of that herself so she
can literally stay alive.
And then there's Chris, 34. People think, Oh, if you need dialysis,
you didn't take care of yourself. You are an old person who didn't take
care of yourself. Chris is 34 years old. When you go to dialysis, it's
4, 5 hours, sometimes, and more in the chair. That's a day away from
work, away from family. And it's hard to sustain employment when you
are gone 4 or 5 hours a day, two or three times a week to stay alive.
But that's what these people must do. Chris supports himself. He is a
chef in a local restaurant. He has got type 1. He's had kidney failure.
So he's going to have to find another place to get his dialysis,
because this place will no longer be there.
So that's what ``access to care'' means, and that's putting a face
and a name to it; and that's what ObamaCare is going to do in the
community that I represent, literally taking this lifesaving care away
from people.
I would urge my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to really take a look at the
upcoming votes both in the Senate and in the House regarding this bill,
regarding this law. It is not ready to roll out. There are significant
failures of it and shortcomings. We understand it was laudable trying
to find a way for every American to receive care. That is a laudable
goal, and we support that.
We have a plan here in the House of Representatives. We would like
the plan to be aired, but none of that is going to happen. None of that
is going to happen if ObamaCare is fully implemented as is planned for
in the upcoming days. None of that is going to happen. And these people
that are receiving their dialysis on the west shore in the Fourth
District of Pennsylvania are going to have to find some other way,
literally day by day, to stay alive thanks to ObamaCare.
Mr. GOHMERT. I thank the gentleman.
The gentleman is absolutely correct. But it's not just Pennsylvania,
and it's not just Texas. It's everywhere. People are hurting.
My friends across the aisle in the last hour had commented about
Republicans wanting a shutdown. We don't want a shutdown. We don't. Ted
Cruz does not want a shutdown. I visited with him quite a bit
yesterday. He doesn't want a shutdown. But we know the damage ObamaCare
is doing not just to the economy--that's bad enough--but to people's
health.
Here is an email. We've gotten so many of them. Just in the short
time I have, I'm trying to decide which ones to present. This one from
Kaytee says:
Just got notice my health care coverage options and costs
will be changed. They will send out the info next month. I am
one of the 26,000 part-time Home Depot employees whose hours
were cut back to never exceed 29 per week. We used to do the
6-week thing. They would schedule us for 35 to 39 hours per
week for 5 weeks, then cut us back in the 6th week to 25 or
so and then back up again. Now it's always going to be less
than 29 hours per week. I'm scared to death to see what the
rate changes will be. Probably way more than I make.
My doctor of 9 years is retiring this month. She is only 46
and an amazingly exceptional family medicine practitioner.
Says she'll grow a garden and herd goats, but she won't be a
contributing member of the insanity. She is an Indian Hindu
born and raised in Canada. She came to Texas because of the
messed up state-run medical care in Canada.
Insurance not the same, losing the doctor.
Here is one from Sandric:
My wife has a bone disease and is always in severe pain. We
see a specialist in Longview, Texas. This specialist travels
from Dallas, 110 miles away, and practices here a couple of
days a week. But since ObamaCare, he has said that he can no
longer afford to have two practices so far apart and will
have to close his Longview practice and that he may just
retire early. Now there will soon be no doctor in this area
for my wife to see, and she is too debilitated to make the
drive to Dallas every month. We are not sure what to do now.
These are real Americans agonizing over the damage that ObamaCare is
doing. And I can't bring myself to call it the Affordable Care Act,
because it isn't.
Here is one from a widow that lives in east Texas, Joy. She says:
I am losing my insurance, which I have had for over 30
years.
So much for, ``If you like your insurance, you can keep it.'' There's
no telling how many millions of times that promise will be broken in
the subsequent months if we can't put off the damage ObamaCare is
doing.
Back to her letter. Talking about the insurance, it says:
It was in my husband's name, and he has recently died. So
here I am, a widow and losing my insurance. I am frustrated
and a little scared. I've never had to do anything like
research for insurance and don't even know where to begin. I
am from Tyler, Texas, and saw your post on Facebook. Enclosed
is the letter my insurance company sent me. They do not
directly say it is due to ObamaCare, but it's pretty easy to
read between the lines.
And actually, you don't even have to do much reading between the
lines. She enclosed a copy of the letter from New York Life Insurance.
At the end of the first paragraph, it says that their insurance, their
Group Health and Life Insurance Trust will terminate at midnight on
December 31, 2013.
The decision to exit this market was not an easy one. The
determination was made based on the evolving market
conditions and regulatory requirements stemming from the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
I think that's pretty clear. She lost her insurance because of
ObamaCare.
I know that there's nobody on the Democratic side that really wants
to do this, put this kind of fear and suffering into a dear widow, but
it's being done. I know that nobody voted on this side of the aisle for
ObamaCare intending to hurt widows and children like is happening, but
it's happening. And now that it's happening, it is absolutely
incorrigible if my friends do not help us help those that are being
hurt by at least postponing this disastrous, hurtful ObamaCare.
Here's another from Jay:
On Tuesday of last week, my 89-year-old mother-in-law fell
and broke her hip. Her doctor gave her only a 50 percent
chance of survival, but survive she did. He stated after the
operation that she was lucky that it happened this week. He
said, ``In 2 weeks, I could not have performed the same
procedure because it is not an approved procedure under the
new rules. It's too expensive.'' We all wondered what her
chances of survival would have been under Dr. Obama.
She will have insurance, but we're already hearing from people that
they've been told they'd better get the procedure now because, if they
wait, it's not going to be covered because the ObamaCare board
apparently thinks if you are of a certain age then maybe you don't need
or deserve a pacemaker or back surgery.
Here's another:
I work for a commercial electrical contractor who has been
in business in east Texas for over 30 years. At the beginning
of this year, we employed over 100 workers. The company
provides group health insurance and pays 75 percent of the
cost for the employees. At this time, we have 66 employees.
We will intentionally have less than 50 employees by the end
of the year, and the owner is planning to drop the health
plan at the first of the coming year.
So much for, ``If you like your insurance, you can keep it.'' Not
only are you not going to keep your insurance, you are not keeping your
employment.
Here is another from Bobbye: With the health mandate looming, the
college where he teaches ``determined that adjunct professors could no
longer teach four classes per semester because the time for prep/
teaching would require they provide me health insurance.'' So he has
been dropped from the class maximum to three. He said: I didn't expect
health insurance from the college, but the mandate has now dictated my
workload.
It dictated less work. So how does he make it?
Here's one:
I am a 56-year-old single woman with no children, and I
have been stuck as part-time toll collector for Harris
County, Texas, since the passage of ObamaCare. For 4 years, I
only work 72 hours every 2 weeks, with no benefits
whatsoever. Last year, the County
[[Page H5917]]
Commissioner stated they will no longer hire full-time
employees. I have $39 left for groceries once mortgage
payment and bills are paid. ObamaCare will destroy me.
{time} 1345
Here's another, from Charles:
I recently applied for a job in Tyler at a new restaurant.
At my interview, I asked how many hours I could expect. The
owner said, verbatim: I'm sorry but because of ObamaCare I
cannot afford to hire anyone for more than 30 hours per week.
Here's another, from Timothy:
I am the only one that works in my house. I support a
family of five and would be considered lower middle class. I
just received notice from my employer that I now have to pay
an additional $6 per person per month as a surcharge on the
new health care law. Also, my premium is going up $60 per
month. It's a total of $100 per month, or increase of about
$1,200 per year. I am basically looking at a 34 percent
increase for nothing. I don't know how I'm going to be able
to afford this as my budget is pretty tight already. Repeal
the Affordable Health Care Act, please, because for me, it's
anything but affordable.
Here's another, from Rose:
I'm 54 years old and have always had health insurance,
which I pay for myself. I too received a letter telling me
that, due to this so-called affordable health care, they will
not be providing me with continued insurance. I will need to
make decisions about what insurance I want, but they have no
idea what choices I will have and of course, no idea what I
will be charged, but were quick to say it will likely be more
than I pay now. Thanks a lot, ObamaCare.
We have no extra income to pay for this. Please stop this
from happening to our family and families throughout our
country who are having their rights taken away from us.
Here's one from Andrea. She sells insurance for State Farm. They
partner with Assurant Health for our individual medical plans:
Ever since we were forced this monstrosity in the most
partisan vote ever, we have seen major changes come from the
health insurance policies we were able to offer. Not only is
there a noticeable increase in the price, we no longer offer
maternity coverage, we no longer offer prescription copay, we
no longer offer an office copay, we no longer offer the low
deductibles we once did.
We have lost many of the networks that allowed people in
our area the best choice as their doctor being in network.
Now, the premium increases at the renewal are much higher
than pre-reforms.
Here's another, from Melissa:
I am self-employed, and I'm already paying for my own
health insurance. I received a letter from my insurance
provider 3 weeks ago that stated there would be changes in my
policy and they would be sending me additional information in
the coming months. Based on the estimates I've seen, my
monthly insurance costs will go up roughly 136 percent.
ObamaCare is damaging real Americans. We owe it to them to do
everything we can to stop it, and stop the waivers and exemptions.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________