[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8298-S8299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OBAMACARE
Mr. BLUNT. I want to talk a few minutes about what is happening with
health care. I came to the floor last week to talk about individuals
who were having problems. People are contacting our office. In fact, I
suspect they are contacting 100 Senate offices every day expressing
their concerns as they lose insurance.
At least 4.2 million Americans have now received cancellation notices
on the insurance they had. I know last week the President made his
proposal that apparently you could keep the insurance you like for 1
year if your insurance company will still offer it and if the State
insurance commissioner will approve it. But those are two pretty big
ifs and certainly nowhere close to ``you can keep your insurance if you
like it, period. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,
period.'' Neither of those is going to turn out to be the case. In
fact, insurance commissioners immediately--their organization--said
this is going to be practically very hard to comply with. So it is one
of many problems.
I think the law that is most likely to apply with the Affordable Care
Act will be the law of unintended consequences--consequences for
individuals, consequences for people who had preexisting conditions and
who in 35 States were being well served by something called the high-
risk pool. Virtually all of those high-risk pools go out of existence
on December 31. I know the Missouri high-risk pool goes out of
existence on December 31, and the 4,300 people who depend on that for
their insurance now have to find insurance on their own. They can get
insurance through the exchange, but in all cases I have heard of so
far, they will be paying more for their insurance on January 1 than
they are paying for coverage today or will pay through the end of this
year. So much for helping people with preexisting conditions. There was
certainly a way to extend those high-risk pools, but we didn't do that.
This week I had a number of businesses talking about the problems
they are having. I would like to briefly talk about two of them this
morning. One of them is the Older Adults Transportation System in our
State. It is headquartered near the middle of the State in Columbia,
MO. It provides transportation for seniors, for people who are
disabled, for low-income Missourians. Like many, the Older Adults
Transportation System--called OATS--was notified that their current
plan would be canceled on January 1. The rate for their new policy for
their 50 full-time employees is going to be 40 percent higher on
January 1 than the policy they have until December 31, and the only way
they can do anything about that is to provide fewer services. So
because of that 40-percent increase, fewer trips will be available to
take the people they serve. Surely that wasn't the goal of the health
care plan. They wanted to insure their driving staff. There are 600
drivers in that system; they wanted to insure them. They were actually
hopeful, with all the promises about the Affordable Care Act, that they
would be able to add their driving staff. Instead of adding their
driving staff, they have to figure out what they are going to do with
the 50 employees they have been insuring at rates that are now 40
percent higher than they were before.
Businesses around the State are calling. I recently heard from
McArthur's Bakery in St. Louis. They currently have a 9-percent cap on
a 2-year health policy. It is a qualified plan. Randy, the president of
McArthur's Bakery, believes they have a pretty good plan. He thought
their plan was a plan that should meet any standard they would hope to
meet. It wasn't a rich plan. He described it to me as not a Cadillac
plan but at least an Impala plan, and they thought the Impala was what
they could do. Suddenly they have learned there is going to be a 4.4-
percent increase in fees and taxes and a huge increase in the
deductible. Their current plan has a deductible of about $500 for an
individual and $1,250 for a family. The deductible on the new plan is
going to be about $3,500 for an individual and $10,000 to $12,000 for a
family.
That is what I am hearing all the time, that the coverage may be
broader, there may be things covered that
[[Page S8299]]
didn't used to be covered, but the deductible is now so big that the
plan people thought protected their needs doesn't really protect their
needs. For most families, $12,000 is catastrophic. It doesn't take
$120,000 or $500,000 to be catastrophic; $12,000 is catastrophic. If
that becomes your new deductible year after year, you will have a
problem you didn't have when your deductible was $1,200.
Randy McArthur says:
The very thing that ObamaCare was supposed to do was to
protect the working people--to give them access to affordable
insurance--but it's actually doing the exact opposite.
Instead, this law will mandate coverage for things you will have to
pay for that you didn't have to pay for before and apparently will
offset that by being sure you pay a lot more of your own money up
front.
I think we are going to continue to see these problems develop. I
hope we can find ways to fix that. I introduced a number of bills in
2009 that I thought were better alternatives than this one. We may have
to go back and start all over. But right now, the one thing we do know
is that the law of unintended consequences appears to be hitting a lot
of families and hitting a lot of families very hard.
Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a
quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, how much time remains?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Eight and a half minutes.
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today and would
note a headline on the front page of Politico today regarding the
ObamaCare Web site. ``Tech Chief: Up to 40% Work Is Left On ObamaCare.
Financial management tools are unfinished.''
This Web site has been a debacle. People all around the country are
angry. They are anxious, frustrated, and bothered, but mostly I am
hearing anger from people in Wyoming. And it is not just the Web site.
The Web site is just the tip of the iceberg. People are furious when
they get letters of cancellation, when they have coverage canceled and
then they see higher premiums. All across the country people are
finding out that because of the health care law, they can't keep their
doctor. They are hearing stories about fraud, identity theft, and
higher copays and deductibles. So I bring to the floor today a couple
of letters I have received from people in Wyoming.
Last week, Veterans Day, I was in Douglas, WY, for the flag-raising
ceremony at the American Legion at 7 a.m. talking to folks--some who
had gotten cancellation letters. Let me read a letter from a family in
Douglas, WY, a small community in Converse County. They say:
We just found out that our current health insurance policy
with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming (which is a $20,000
deductible for our family) will not be allowed after January
1st . . . that only those under age 30 will be able to have
catastrophic plans. We ranch, work very hard, have been
healthy . . . can't afford and don't believe a lower
deductible makes sense for us.
So this is a family who decided what was best for them as a family--
not what the government told them they had to buy but what worked for
them as a family. They say that what they bought was something that
made sense for them.
Continuing to read from their letter:
. . . basically have had insurance to avoid losing our cows
and land if something catastrophic happened to us. Don't know
what we will do if you guys don't get this derailed.
Madam President, as someone from the Rocky Mountain West, I can tell
you that in a community of lots of ranchers and farmers, what they are
trying to do is insure against this catastrophic loss.
They go on to say:
Quick side note--we think most people expect health
insurance to cover everyday costs--it wouldn't make sense and
it would cost way too much to get insurance to cover new
tires, oil changes, washer fluid, new batteries (regular
expected upkeep) for our vehicles--if we only had insurance
for the big health issues, it wouldn't cost as much for all
of us in the end.
Of course, that is what they wanted to do.
They go on:
Obamacare doesn't deal with any of the issues of why health
care in America costs what it does and truly seems to make it
all worse.
Thank you for what you do--we know you already understand
this. We just thought you should know what we are dealing
with.
That is a ranch family in Douglas, WY, in Converse County.
This past Saturday night I was in Lusk, WY, in Niobrara County, and I
have an email I wish to share with you from Lusk, WY. Again, this is
somebody who has had coverage canceled, higher copays, and all of the
things we are talking about.
Just for a second, let me show the list of the number of people who
have been canceled. Some 4.7 million Americans have had their health
insurance canceled in 32 States, and we don't even have the numbers for
a number of other States. This is what people all across the country
are seeing.
Let me read this email from Lusk, WY. This individual says:
I have supported the President and the Affordable Health
Care act since the beginning. That changed on Thursday. All
along we have been told if we have insurance, and we are
satisfied, no changes will be necessary. That is a misleading
statement. I was informed by my company my policy will be
canceled in December. Then they will offer me another policy
but with huge changes. My premium will go up . . . my
deductible will rise . . . That is not the same as my current
policy. I feel like, after decades of paying my own
insurance, I am being penalized. I won't call it lying, but
the President certainly misled a lot of us middle aged
Americans.
I do have one alternative I am pursuing. I can buy
insurance that does not meet the guidelines of the Act.
However, I will be forced to pay the penalty for
noncompliance. I can afford my insurance and the penalty.
Once again, Americans do not like to be misled from the top
leadership down. It simply helps to solidify the mistrust we
have in government.
Thank you for your solid leadership.
That is why I am here today on the floor. We need to hear more
stories from people around the country--not just Republicans but
Democrats need to hear these stories. Tweet us your story at hashtag
``your story.''
Republicans have better ideas about ways we can actually help people
get the care they need from a doctor they choose at a lower cost.
This health care law is hurting many millions of Americans. We now
know that the President knew it at the time he continued to repeat the
line--which we now know is a misleading line--to the American people.
Very soon we will find that the line ``if you like your doctor, you can
keep your doctor'' was misleading as millions more will be losing their
doctor. There is great damage continuing to be done. We need to start
over.
Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a
quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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