[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 173 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8230-S8231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I come to the floor because we are 
discussing ObamaCare on the reconciliation bill. Webster's dictionary 
defines the word ``success'' as the correct or desired result of an 
attempt. So I want to discuss the definition of the word ``success'' as 
we consider repeal of ObamaCare.
  On the day the bill was signed into law, President Obama said the 
following:


[[Page S8231]]


  

       Today we are affirming that essential truth, a truth every 
     generation is called to rediscover for itself, that we are 
     not a nation that scales back its aspirations.

  Such grand words for where we are today with ObamaCare. Today the 
success of the law that now bears his name, ObamaCare, is defined in 
much more meager terms. Think of all we have been through to this 
point: the fight over the bill and the extreme legislative means used 
to pass it through the Congress; the Supreme Court decision that 
effectively repealed half of the law's coverage. Think of all the 
changes made to the law through regulation to make sure ObamaCare 
actually got launched--the postponing of the employer mandate, the 
postponing of lifetime limits. Think of the impact this law has had on 
our economy--people losing jobs, people losing the health insurance 
they currently have because if you like what you have, you may not be 
able to keep it.
  Let's talk about that for a moment. ``If you like what you have, you 
can keep it.'' This was the promise the President made to the American 
people on at least 36 separate occasions. It is a great sound bite. It 
is easy to say. It rolls off the tongue. It is also not true. It was 
never true. It obviously was not true when the law was written. It was 
obviously not true when the first proposed regulation came out.
  This is what I said on the Senate floor in September of 2010:

       Only in the District of Columbia could you get away with 
     telling the people ``if you like what you have, you can keep 
     it,'' and then pass regulations 6 months later that do just 
     the opposite, and figure that people are going to ignore it.

  It is not that I have some magic crystal ball. We all knew it. The 
administration certainly knew the day would come when millions of 
people would receive cancellation notices. My constituents clearly know 
that. I heard from many Iowans who found out the hard way that the 
President made a bunch of pie-in-the-sky promises that he knew he 
couldn't keep; constituents such as this one from Perry, IA, who wrote 
to me saying:

       My husband and I are farmers. For nine years now we have 
     bought our own policy. To keep the cost affordable our plan 
     is a major medical plan with a very high deductible. We 
     recently received a letter that our plan was going away. 
     Effective January 1, 2014, it will be updated to comply with 
     the mandates of ObamaCare.
       To manage the risks of much higher premiums, our insurance 
     company is asking us to cancel our current policy and sign on 
     at a higher rate effective December 31, 2013 or we could go 
     to the government exchange.
       We did not get to keep our current policy. We did not get 
     to keep our lower rates. I now have to pay for coverage that 
     I do not want or will never use. We are not low income that 
     might qualify for assistance.
       We are the small business owner that is trying to live the 
     American dream. I do not believe in large government that 
     wants to run my life.

  From a constituent living in Mason City:

       My wife and I are both 60 years old, and have been covered 
     by an excellent Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield policy for 
     several years. It is not through my employer. We selected the 
     plan because it had the features we wanted and needed . . . 
     our choice. And because we are healthy, we have a preferred 
     premium rate.
       Yesterday, we got a call from our agent explaining that 
     since our plan is not grandfathered, it will need to be 
     replaced by the end of 2014. The current plan has a $5,000 
     deductible and the premium is $511 a month. The best option 
     going forward for us from Wellmark would cost $955 per month 
     (a modest 87 percent increase), and have a $10,000 
     deductible. And because we have been diligent and responsible 
     in saving for our upcoming retirement, we do not qualify for 
     any taxpayer-funded subsidies.

  These are just two of many letters, emails, and phone calls I have 
received from Iowans.
  Now the issue has turned to cost. Millions of people face rising 
premiums. The impact is real and undeniable.
  Here is another from a constituent from Des Moines:

       In 2013, I encountered some medical problems which caused 
     me to retire early. My spouse works as an adjunct instructor 
     . . . thus not qualifying for coverage. In 2014, with 4 part-
     time jobs between us, we made $44,289 in Adjusted Gross 
     Income.
       Our Obamacare insurance cost $968 per month and after 
     credits, we paid $478 per month or approximately 13 percent 
     of our Adjusted Gross Income. In 2015, our Adjusted Gross 
     Income will be approximately the same, however our Obamacare 
     insurance jumped to a premium of $1,028.82 and our cost to 
     $590.12.
       The insurance company touted that premiums went up less 
     than 10 percent, but as you can see, my costs went up 23 
     percent. The impact to Adjusted Gross Income went to 16 
     percent, a 23 percent increase. I just received my 2016 
     premium estimate. Our Adjusted Gross Income is likely to be 
     the same. Our gross premium is scheduled to rise 36 percent 
     to nearly $1,400; our cost after the credit is jumping 63 
     percent and the impact to our Adjusted Gross Income is that 
     25 percent of our income will be spent on health insurance (a 
     56 percent increase).

  Thousands of Iowans have contacted me asking what can be done. Now 
that we clearly see that what the President sold the American people 
was a bag of Washington's best gift-wrapped hot air. All the grandiose 
talk about the importance of this statute, and what we ultimately have 
is an optional Medicaid expansion with a glorified high-risk pool and a 
government portal that makes DMV look efficient.
  Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the co-op disaster. 
The first co-op to fall was Iowa's CoOportunity. CoOportunity enrolled 
the second most beneficiaries of any co-op in America. CoOportunity 
knew they were in trouble because they enrolled more than 100,000 
people when they were planning for less than 20,000. CoOportunity was 
in contact with CMS and so was the State of Iowa. CMS chose not to 
further fund CoOportunity and CoOportunity has since been liquidated. 
American taxpayers have billions of dollars invested in these co-ops. 
The taxpayer only gets their money back when co-ops succeed. CMS's 
stewardship of this program has proven that CoOportunity was not an 
exception but unfortunately the rule as more and more co-ops have 
failed.
  Americans deserve better. They voted for better. It is time to admit 
that ObamaCare has not achieved the correct or desired result of an 
attempt. It has not been a success by any measure, unless, of course, 
you lower your standard to the point that the mere act of keeping the 
doors open is a success. How sad is that for all we have been through.
  Maybe, just maybe, it is time to admit that the massive restructuring 
has failed. Partisanship has failed. Perhaps it is time to sit down and 
consider commonsense, bipartisan steps that we could take to lower the 
cost and improve quality. Perhaps we could enact alternative reforms 
aimed at solving America's biggest health care problems, reforms like 
revising the Tax Code to help individuals who buy their own health 
insurance, allowing people to purchase health coverage across State 
lines and form risk pools in the individual market, expanding tax-free 
health savings accounts, making health care price and quality 
information more transparent, cracking down on frivolous medical 
malpractice lawsuits, using high-risk pools to insure folks with 
preexisting conditions, giving States more freedom to improve Medicaid, 
and using provider competition and consumer choice to bring down costs 
in Medicare and throughout the health care delivery system.
  The American people need to know that this failed program is not the 
only answer and we are not scaling back our aspirations. With this vote 
this week, we once again demonstrate to the American people our 
willingness to not accept failure and to aim for better. That is what 
America is all about.
  I yield the floor.

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