[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 173 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8219-S8220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OBAMACARE
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, soon we will be debating the future of
ObamaCare. The American people have told us they want Congress to
repeal this so-called health care law. They told us to start over with
real health care reform. This actually shouldn't be a very
controversial vote. It is clear, even to the law's supporters, that the
Obama health care law has not worked out in any way they had
specifically expected. The ObamaCare health care law is collapsing,
whether the President wants to admit it or not.
Democrats should really be eager to join us to help fix the damage
that has been done by this law. So far they have been much more focused
on protecting President Obama's legacy than on protecting the American
people and the health of the American people from ObamaCare.
Last month President Obama did a radio show in which he was asked
about the law and about problems with the law because people all across
the country are seeing significant problems with the law. The President
would not admit to a single problem with this law. He insisted: ``It
has been a success.''
Well, I go home to Wyoming every weekend. I am a doctor. I practiced
medicine in Wyoming for 25 years, and the people whom I talk to--my
patients, my neighbors, people all around the State, and the people
whom I run into in my travels--do not consider ObamaCare a success.
Democrats come to the floor and say: It is OK that insurance rates
are rising. Remember when the President said they would go down by
$2,500 per family? The Democrats say it is OK that the insurance rates
are rising because they say the rates also went up before the law. What
they won't tell you is that premiums aren't just going up a little;
they are going up a lot next year. Actually, they are going through the
roof.
There was a study by the McKinsey Center for U.S. Health System
Reform. They found that the median increase for the bronze plans went
up 13 percent from this year to next year. That is just the average.
That means for half of the people, they are going to pay more than
that. The silver plan is up 11 percent, the platinum plan is up 12
percent, and the gold plan is up 15 percent. These double-digit price
increases are not a success.
Democrats have come to the floor and have talked about some of the
people who have gotten insurance coverage since the law took effect.
What they won't tell you is that having insurance coverage is not the
same thing as getting medical care.
The New York Times ran an article about 2 weeks ago with this
headline: ``Many Say High Deductibles Make Their Health Law Insurance
All But Useless.'' They don't even call it health insurance. They call
it health law insurance because it is insurance to comply with the law
and not to actually give you the health care. It is astonishing. Even
the New York Times calls it health law insurance.
The article tells the story about David Reines from Jefferson
Township, NJ. He is 60 years old and has a history of chronic knee
pain. This man says: ``The deductible, $3,000 a year, makes it
impossible to actually go to a doctor.'' He says: ``We have insurance,
but can't afford to use it.''
President Obama, this is not a success. Democrats who support the
health care law say that it created these marketplaces where people can
shop for insurance. What they won't tell you is that companies have
been pulling out of the marketplaces and exchanges all across the
country. More than half of the State co-ops have gone out of business
and have failed. The largest health insurance company in America says
that it may drop out of the program entirely next year.
In Wyoming, there is just one company participating in the ObamaCare
exchange. That is the choice on the Wyoming exchange--one. Does
President Obama consider that a success? Democrats say a lot of people
like their insurance plans. Well, they won't tell you about the Gallup
poll last month that found that the American people are far from happy.
Just 33 percent of Americans said that the health care coverage in this
country is either excellent or good--one out of three. Only one out of
five is satisfied with the total cost of their health care.
Now, both of these numbers are worse than they were when President
Obama took office. When asked: How are you going now compared to where
you were when Barack Obama moved into the White House, people will tell
you that when it comes to health care, it is worse.
Another survey last month by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that
just 38 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the health
care law. Is that the way President Obama measures success? Is that
what he calls a success?
Why won't the Democrats come to the floor and talk about these
surveys? Democrats come down to the floor and say that ObamaCare has
put millions of people on Medicaid. I am not sure how many of them have
a full understanding of Medicaid. As a doctor who practiced medicine
for 24 years, I can tell you a lot about Medicaid. They won't say
anything about this failed program. They won't admit to the fact that
Medicaid is a failed program.
[[Page S8220]]
A new study last month found that cancer patients with Medicaid in
California--we have 2 Senators from California who voted for this law--
are less likely to get recommended treatment and they have a lower
survival rate than people with other types of insurance. The Democrats
celebrate the fact that they have all of these new people on Medicaid.
This is not a success. Democrats don't want to talk about any of this.
Nobody on this side of the aisle is denying that there are people who
have been helped by the health care law. Why won't any Democrat come to
the floor of the Senate and admit that for every person who has
benefited, someone else may have been harmed and may have suffered? Why
won't Democrats admit and the President admit that the law has not
lived up to their promises?
Why did we need a 2,000-page law that upended the entire health care
system in this country basically to expand the broken Medicaid program?
None of this had to happen. None of this is what people were asking for
when Democrats wrote their law behind closed doors back there. It is
certainly not what people are asking for today. This health care law
has been expensive, disruptive, and devastating. It is headed for
collapse, and if Democrats won't admit it, then they are just kidding
themselves.
Republicans are ready to move on with a better approach. We will work
to lower costs and make insurance affordable for all Americans. We will
make sure that people who need insurance can actually get usable
insurance. That means making coverage equal care. That is what it
should do. Coverage ought to equal care. We will give people freedom,
flexibility, and choice to allow patients to make the decisions that
are best for them and their family--not Washington and President Obama
telling them what is best for them and their family. Those people will
be making those decisions for themselves. We will protect consumers by
making insurance predictable and stable so people don't have to switch
their coverage and their doctor every year.
Finally, we are going to fix Washington by making Medicare and
Medicaid stronger for people who will absolutely rely on these
programs.
President Obama and Democrats in Congress do have a choice. They can
join with Republicans in accepting the inevitable. They can act now to
reform our health care system in a way that works or they can stand by
and watch as the wheels continue to come off of ObamaCare. The program
is collapsing, and it is unavoidable. Congress should not allow this
health care law to harm the American people for one day longer.
Democrats should work with us to create a replacement that actually
delivers care, not just unusable coverage.
I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
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