[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 114 (Monday, July 21, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4647-S4648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I wish to subscribe to the views of my 
colleague from North Dakota on the importance of developing our great 
resource of natural gas and turning it into a liquefied form and 
solving a lot of the problems we face around the world. I also commend 
Senator Hoeven and Senator Wyden for the exchange they had briefly a 
few moments ago on a bipartisan approach to funding our infrastructure 
problems in the immediate and in the long-term sense.
  I note, as I move to the topic of ObamaCare, the absence of any such 
bipartisan accord during 2009 when the Affordable Care Act was being 
debated in the Senate. Thus, we have what in April of 2003 Senate 
Finance Committee Chairman Baucus called a huge train wreck. He was 
right in seeing the train wreck coming on the rollout of the Web site, 
but it also has turned out to be a train wreck in far more ways than 
the Web site glitches and the ultimate fiasco.
  The train wreck of the affordable health care act continues in the 
way the law is affecting health care coverage and the way it is 
affecting the pocketbooks of American families. These families were 
flatly told their health care premiums would go down. They were not 
told their health care premiums would moderate; they were told their 
health care premiums would go down. Instead, we have all of the 
problems we are facing with regard to ObamaCare in the way it affects 
women, in the way it affects wage-earners, and in the way it affects 
people who are looking for full-time employment. Frankly, the ObamaCare 
law continues to drag down our economy and our chances for economic 
growth.
  Instead of seeing premiums drop by $2,500 on average each year as 
President Obama promised, families and individuals are spending more of 
their hard-earned dollars on health care costs under this so-called 
Affordable Care Act. The sticker shock will only worsen, and it is 
going to happen right around the corner.
  In recent weeks several States have announced preliminary estimates 
for next year's premiums. The Wall Street Journal reports that many of 
these States' largest health insurers plan to increase premiums by 
between 8.5 percent and 22.8 percent. These are annual increases coming 
up right around the corner of 8.5 percent up to 22.8 percent. For many 
Americans, this means either paying a lot more or simply not being able 
to have coverage at all. The administration is trying to downplay the 
costs, but it is clear that once again ObamaCare is failing to live up 
to its billing.
  Some States are particularly vulnerable to higher rates next year 
because of low enrollment among young adults or because few insurers 
have joined the exchanges. For example, in my home State of Mississippi 
94 percent of enrollees are eligible for Federal subsidies, which means 
we have little competition to drive down rates. According to this 
year's numbers, my home State of Mississippi already has the third 
highest premiums in the Nation, and we can't afford them. Competition 
cannot flourish when the government is involved in setting mandates for 
benefits and controlling rates. Without a market-based approach, which 
I advocated in 2009, consumers lose out on choice and cost.
  Particularly hardhit by the President's health care law are women and 
younger wage earners. With regard to women, for example, they are more 
likely to pay higher out-of-pocket costs under ObamaCare with plans 
with high deductibles because they typically visit the doctor more. As 
57 percent of the part-time workforce, women are also more likely to 
have their hours cut because of the employer mandate.
  I note that the employer mandate is increasingly unpopular among 
Democrats and Republicans.
  Additionally, the law's limited physician networks have forced many 
women to choose different specialists for themselves and their 
children, thus making it less convenient for these women to get care 
for themselves and their children.

  Stories from women across the country underscore these difficult 
realities. Last year a woman from Columbus, MS, wrote to tell me that 
her original health care plan was $500 per month before it jumped to 
$1,500 a month because of the ACA.
  One woman from North Carolina gave this reaction to unaffordable 
premiums. She said:

       I've never worked this hard in my life. But I'm gonna 
     continue working every day and keep hitting the books at 
     night. I'm just trying to keep my head above water.

  Another woman from Texas who could not find an obstetrician who would 
accept her insurance said this:

       It was mind-numbing, because I was just sitting there 
     thinking, I'm paying close to $400 just for me to have 
     insurance that doesn't work. So what am I paying for?

  Women make approximately 80 percent of the health care decisions in 
America. More choices and lower costs would give them the flexibility 
they need to get the right insurance plan.
  With regard to younger workers, they are generally healthier but earn 
less, and they are faced with daunting realities because of the health 
care law. Specifically, younger workers are forced to pay higher 
premiums to subsidize coverage for older Americans.
  I was contacted by a constituent from Greenville, MS, whose healthy 
27-year-old son lost his health insurance because of ObamaCare. The 
cost of his coverage went from $70 per month to nearly $350 per month 
even though the benefits improved only slightly. Although this young 
man had health insurance for 7 years, since he was 20 years of age, he 
is now questioning whether he can afford it.
  Finally, all Americans are affected by a health care law that 
destroys jobs. Last month the economy added 288,000 jobs, but only a 
fraction of them were full time, as we know. The Obama economy is a 
part-time economy. Millions of Americans want full-time work.
  The President's health care law was pushed through with no bipartisan 
input and in defiance of public opinion. After the Massachusetts 
special election, this Senate should have gotten the message that we 
needed to regroup and rethink this disastrous law, but the majority 
party pushed forward regardless. So it is no surprise that the law 
remains deeply unpopular today. According to a recent poll, 55 percent

[[Page S4648]]

of Americans wish it had never passed and 44 percent said America is 
now worse off because of the ACA.
  In summary, under the affordable health care act women are worse off, 
younger workers are worse off, and people seeking full-time jobs are 
worse off.
  Elections have consequences, and November will be no different. The 
American people have an opportunity to change the course of this 
disastrous law in 106 days.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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