[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 161 (Wednesday, November 13, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S7966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, one of the favorite pastimes of 
politicians in Washington is to talk about how frustrated the American 
people are with politicians in Washington. After the past few weeks, it 
is easy to see why. I am talking about the President's promise, 
repeated dozens of times, that if you like your health care plan, you 
can keep it, and the sobering realization by literally millions of 
Americans is that it was not true.
  Some of the top fact checkers in the country have used terms such as 
``pants on fire'' and ``false'' and ``four Pinocchios'' to describe the 
claim that under ObamaCare folks would be able to keep their plans.
  In a matter of weeks, it has gone from being one of the law's top 
selling points to a national punchline. If millions of people were not 
so frustrated and upset by it, it might actually be funny, but it is 
not the least bit funny.
  At this stage about 50,000 folks are believed to have signed up for 
insurance on the Federal exchange--way below administration estimates. 
That is 50,000 folks who have signed up for insurance on the exchange, 
while 3.5 million Americans have lost their health care coverage. In 
other words, about twice as many folks have lost their insurance in the 
State of Idaho alone since October 1 as have obtained health insurance 
across the entire Federal exchange all across America. So this is a 
real crisis.
  In my home State of Kentucky, over a quarter of a million people have 
lost their private health care plan so far and only about 7,000 
Kentuckians have been able to obtain new private insurance under 
ObamaCare. If you consider that Kentucky received $250 million in 
taxpayer funds to get ObamaCare up and running, that works out to about 
$35,000 per private insurance enrollee, and that is before the taxpayer 
subsidies kick in.
  We have literally thrown untold millions at this disastrous rollout, 
and what do we have to show for it? Millions of people losing their 
coverage despite assurances from the President they would be able to 
keep it. He said they would be able to keep it, period. That is what 
the President said.
  Let's be very clear about something. These insurance cancellations 
are not any kind of an accident. This is no accident. It is the way the 
law was designed. Remember, in order for ObamaCare to work, millions of 
Americans had to lose the coverage they purchased on their own so the 
government could dump them into the ObamaCare exchanges. That way the 
government could then get them to pay more to subsidize coverage for 
everybody else. That is the way this was designed to work.
  The 31-year-old dentist from Louisville whom I mentioned last week--
the one who is not married, has no kids--now has to carry pediatric 
dental care on his plan. He is one of the unfortunate ones subsidizing 
care for everybody else.
  Despite the fact that the President and other supporters of the bill 
vowed up and down that folks would be able to keep the health care plan 
they had and liked, the fact is that was never true. It was never true 
and they knew it. They knew folks would lose their coverage. They knew 
it all along. Just as the President once famously predicted that 
utility rates would necessarily skyrocket as a result of his cap-and-
trade policy, so too would health care rates skyrocket under ObamaCare. 
The only difference is that on health care, Democrats apparently knew 
they could not tell people how it would all shake out in the end, but 
they knew. That is why in 2010 every Democrat who was in the Senate 
voted against a Republican proposal designed to hold the President to 
his word.
  The fact is the President's health care law was designed to capture 
millions of middle-class Americans, jack up their premiums, and use the 
extra cash to keep ObamaCare afloat. This is not some unforeseen 
consequence of the law, it is the law. It is working just as they 
designed it--just like what they voted for.
  It is hard to take seriously this faux outrage we have seen of late 
from some of our Democratic friends. As for the President, this should 
be no great revelation to him either. Just the other day the media 
pointed out that the administration knew for years that Americans would 
lose coverage.
  But there is something else.
  At a bipartisan health care summit in 2010, the President was asked 
directly about this kind of thing by House Majority Leader Cantor. In 
reply, the President admitted that 8 million to 9 million would have to 
change coverage and justified it on grounds they would be getting 
better coverage from the government once they lost it. So the President 
actually admitted during that event that millions would lose their 
health care and still went out on the campaign trail claiming Americans 
could keep the health care plans they had.
  This is why Americans feel so hurt by this particular broken promise. 
And what many of them want to know is why would Washington Democrats 
persist with it even after it became clear it was false?
  I think the reasons are simple enough. One, they needed to pass the 
ObamaCare bill; and, two, they needed to sell it to a skeptical public. 
And neither would have been possible without it.
  If the President had gone out and told people that if he likes your 
plan, you can keep it--if the President had said if he likes your plan, 
you can keep it--it would have never passed. That is why the 
President's so-called apology the other night rang so hollow for so 
many.
  ObamaCare's problems run so deep and the broken promises are so 
pervasive that it is impossible to identify an ``easy fix.'' It truly 
ought to be repealed or delayed. But if the President is sorry for 
breaking his promise to the American people, there is a natural place 
to start. He could support legislation that would help restore the 
plans for the folks who want them back, and he can act on it as early 
as this Friday. That is because the House is expected to send over a 
bill that would allow Americans to keep the plans they have and want to 
keep. There is no reason the President and Senate Democrats should not 
join Republicans and the American people in supporting it.
  This does not have to be a partisan battle. These cancellations have 
not discriminated based on party. The people out there who are 
frustrated and upset at losing their health care plans are Democrats 
and Republicans. The President can help all of them by backing the bill 
the House is expected to pass on Friday.
  I think that is basically what President Clinton was suggesting 
yesterday when he said the President should honor the commitment the 
government made to these folks, even--even, said Bill Clinton--if it 
means changing the law.
  I have had a lot of disagreements with President Clinton over the 
years. But at key moments he was willing to cross party lines, and I 
think here is a moment where the American people are expecting 
President Obama to do the same. Allowing Americans to keep their health 
plans is a promise Democrats made over and over.
  Whether or not they meant it, Democrats promised this to the American 
people, and it is their duty to make good on what they said. Once the 
House acts, my conference will be watching closely to see whether the 
Senate Democratic majority allows a vote and will help us send a bill 
to the President's desk. The American people will be watching closely 
as well.
  So my message to the President is simple: Mr. President, our 
constituents are frustrated and they are upset. You could help. Do the 
right thing.

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