[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 21, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5913-S5914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OBAMACARE
Mr. REID. Mr. President, my entire caucus got the message. We
understand Einstein's definition of insanity is doing the same thing
over and over again, and the over and over again, my friend should
understand, is the fact that Republicans have voted 70 times to repeal
ObamaCare, each time with the same result. My friend should know that
every one of my Senators got the memo, as he said.
If someone would spend a minute each day flipping through the
newspapers about health care, they would understand that ObamaCare has
changed America for the better. Twenty million people now have the
opportunity to go to the doctor when they
[[Page S5914]]
are sick or to the hospital when they are hurt. That wasn't the way it
used to be, and the American people are beginning to realize that the
constant carping about ObamaCare from the Republicans is wrong. It is
wrong for a number of reasons. The American people are beginning to
realize that with just a little bit of help, ObamaCare could be made
even better. A report came out yesterday that premiums for ObamaCare
are still less than employer programs. It is about 3 percent lower than
the company-run plans.
The marketplace is what it is all about, and that is what is
determining what is happening with ObamaCare. The disabled can get
insurance, young men and women can stay on their parents' insurance
until the age of 26. Insurance companies are limited in how they can
punish people, as they did in the past. They can't set an arbitrary
limit as to how much insurance they would provide. If somebody was hurt
in a serious accident, they would just terminate them from the
insurance, not to mention all of the other things. We were at their
mercy. Obviously Republicans want to go back to that same system, and
it is not a good system.
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