[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S4219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, last week, President Obama spoke at a 
meeting of the Catholic Health Association, and he told the association 
that his health care law, as he said, ``worked out better than some of 
us anticipated.''
  Well, I can tell you that the President's health care law has worked 
out much worse--much worse--than the American people expected. It has 
worked out much worse than the President promised it was going to work. 
Hard-working families all across the country are suffering under the 
President's complicated, confusing, and costly health care law.
  The new Senator from Michigan just gave his maiden speech this 
morning, and I welcome him to the Senate. The senior Senator from 
Michigan just spoke on the floor. Last week, she also spoke on the 
floor and talked about the millions of Americans who need subsidies to 
help cover the cost of these outrageously expensive ObamaCare mandates. 
Well, ObamaCare hurts many of the people in her home State of Michigan.
  This insurance is going to get a lot more expensive for the people of 
Michigan next year. The Obama administration released new numbers 
recently showing how much more people are going to have to pay for 
their ObamaCare plans next year. There is one company in Michigan that 
has requested a rate increase of 38 percent. There are more than 20,000 
people in Michigan who get their ObamaCare insurance from this company 
today. These people are looking at the prospect of their insurance 
costing 38 percent more next year. Other families in Michigan are 
facing rate hikes of 11 percent or 17 percent or 37 percent, depending 
on the specific plan they are in.
  And it is not just happening in Michigan. In Washington State, one 
company says its premiums next year will be 19 percent higher. There 
are more than 7,000 people in Washington State who get their insurance 
from that company. Another company says it is raising its rates 9.6 
percent. People in Washington are facing much higher insurance 
premiums, and they will still have the narrow networks that so many 
Americans have to deal with because of ObamaCare. When I say ``narrow 
network,'' I mean fewer choices of hospitals, fewer choices of doctors 
to take care of them--limited choices, plus paying more.
  So how big of a problem is it? Well, the Wall Street Journal had an 
article about these people the other day. On Friday, June 12, the 
headline was ``Surprises in Health-Law Bills.'' The article says: 
``Out-of-network charges often aren't flagged before treatment.'' They 
call it medical bill shock.
  This is under the President's health care law--medical bill shock; 
surprises in health-law bills. The article tells the story of Angela 
Giboney from Mill Creek, WA--Washington State. She has insurance 
through the State ObamaCare exchange. She has ObamaCare, make no 
mistake about it. When she went to have a mammogram, it turned out the 
place that did the screening was outside her network, so she got a bill 
for $932. President Obama promised that people would pay less under the 
health care law. Instead, people all across the country are getting 
stuck with surprise bills because of these narrow networks. And in 
spite of that, their premiums are going to jump again next year.
  Some Democrats say that people shouldn't worry about these dramatic 
premium increases because the average increase--this is what the 
Democrats say--in some places won't be that high. Well, there is a new 
study that looked at the rate requests in eight different States for 
next year. It says that in those eight States, premiums for the silver 
plan in the ObamaCare exchange will only go up by, on average, 6 
percent. The study says that in Connecticut, the average silver plan is 
only going to raise premiums 4 percent. It says if you shop around--if 
you shop around--you might be able to find a new plan next year that 
will go up by less than your current plan is going up.
  So they are saying that across the board they are going up. The 
question is, How much are they going up? And if you shop around, you 
might be able to find a place they are not going up quite as much as 
they are with your current plan.
  Is that what President Obama promised the American people? Did he 
promise the American people the rates would only go up 6 percent? No, 
that is not what he promised. He said rates would go down by $2,500 per 
family, per year.
  Did President Obama say your rates will go up a little less if you 
are willing to change plans every year? No. He said if you like your 
insurance, you can keep your insurance. That is what the President 
said.
  Did the President promise that maybe your rates won't go up by quite 
as much if you are willing to accept a narrow network of providers? Did 
he say you should change your doctor every year by switching from plan 
to plan? No, of course not. He said if you like your doctor, you can 
keep your doctor.
  I want to make another point about this new study. It is only talking 
about the average increases across all the plans offered in eight 
States. Even if the average premium is only going up 6 percent in those 
eight States, a lot of people are going to end up paying much more.
  There are families in Connecticut who may have to pay 16 percent more 
next year. That is how much more one company in Connecticut wants to 
charge almost 26,000 people who buy the ObamaCare plans today. Does the 
President think these families are happy that the average increase is 
only 4 percent when they get an increase of 16 percent? Is that what 
the President means when he says his health care law is working better 
than he anticipated--and he said it just last week--because there are a 
lot of people in Connecticut who say it is not working and it is 
working much worse than they anticipated.
  People have been writing to the State insurance department in 
Connecticut, and they are angry. They are angry with the President and 
alarmed at the ObamaCare price hikes. One person wrote that their 
insurance company is requesting a rate increase of 14.3 percent in 
Connecticut. For Democrats who say the average may be only 4 percent, 
some people will be paying over 14 percent more next year. The person 
asks: Does the average worker get a 14-percent salary increase? That is 
not what the people of Michigan, Washington, Connecticut or anywhere 
else thought they were going to get when Democrats called the law the 
Affordable Care Act.

  Sometime in the next couple of weeks the Supreme Court is going to 
decide whether it is legal for President Obama to spend some of the 
billions of taxpayer dollars that he has been spending on the health 
care law. Now, the decision could affect more than 6 million Americans. 
Republicans have been watching this case very closely. We have been 
working on ideas to protect these people and to protect all Americans 
from the damages caused by the President's health care law.
  If the Court rules against the President, then Republicans will be 
ready to sit down with Democrats to improve health care in America. We 
will take the opportunity to protect the people from ObamaCare's broken 
promises and to provide freedom to the people who are trapped in 
Washington-mandated health care. It will be up to the President and 
Democrats in Congress whether they want to join us or if they want to 
continue to insist that this law is working better than they 
anticipated. I hope they will work with us--work with us--on reforms 
that the American people need, want, and deserve.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.

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