[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 56 (Thursday, March 30, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2146-S2147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, for 7 years, Republicans in Congress have 
promised to ``repeal and replace ObamaCare,'' but not once during those 
7 years did they actually put together a piece of legislation to make 
good on that promise.
  Not once during those 7 years did Republican leaders actually convene 
serious hearings and meetings with patients, hospitals, insurers, and 
medical groups to discuss how best to reform our healthcare system, 
instead preferring to just rail against the law.
  Not once during those 7 years did congressional Republicans actually 
try to sit down with Democrats and work on a bipartisan basis to 
improve upon the law.
  But here is what they did do: They did everything possible to gum up 
the works, with many Republican Governors even refusing to expand 
Medicaid, denying millions of their constituents access to healthcare.
  They went on TV, did interviews, and held campaign rallies about how 
all of

[[Page S2147]]

the challenges facing our healthcare system, challenges that we faced 
even before we passed the ACA, was the fault of ObamaCare and made 
empty promises about ``repeal and replace.''
  Congressional Republicans voted over 60 times to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act when they knew President Obama was in office and he 
would veto repeal--60 times.
  Now, with Republicans controlling the House, the Senate, the White 
House, you know what they are doing? Nothing--they cancelled their vote 
last Friday to repeal the law.
  Why? As evidenced last week, they are incapable of developing a 
proposal that garners the support of their own Republican Caucus. They 
are incapable of bringing a piece of legislation to the House Floor for 
a vote, despite having a large Republican majority in the House.
  Now, after 17 legislative days of trying to ram through a bill that 
would have thrown at least 24 million people off their health 
insurance, reduced protections for 178 million people who have 
employer-based coverage, increased costs for seniors and rural 
communities, and given a huge tax break to drug companies and the 
wealthiest Americans, Republicans are giving up.
  Time to move on, they say; time to tackle tax reform, they say.
  Well, I, along with the majority of Americans who have benefited from 
this law, am relieved.
  The Affordable Care Act is not perfect--no law is.
  It made sure 20 million more Americans could get health insurance, 
including 1 million Illinoisans. As a result, our uninsured rate is at 
its lowest level in our Nation's history.
  Young people are staying on their parents' plans till age 26, and 
seniors are seeing big savings on their prescription drugs.
  Women can no longer be charged more than men for the same coverage, 
and people with preexisting conditions can no longer be discriminated 
against.
  Annual and lifetime caps on benefits are a thing of the past, and 
people now have access to maternity and newborn care, as well as mental 
health and substance abuse treatment.
  Now that Republicans have acknowledged that the Affordable Care Act 
is, as Speaker Ryan stated, ``the law of the land . . . for the 
foreseeable future,'' it is time to start building off of it.
  Like Medicare and Social Security before it, it is time to make some 
bipartisan modifications that can help improve the law.
  We need to increase insurer competition because, in too many of our 
communities, there are not enough options.
  We need to address individual market premium increases because, for 
too many of our constituents, an affordable health plan is still out of 
reach.
  I, along with many of my Democratic colleagues, have put forth ideas 
to deal with some of these issues.
  I support the creation of a ``public plan,'' which would both 
increase competition in areas that are lacking and drive down premiums 
since, as Medicare has demonstrated time and again, the Federal 
Government can be more efficient than private for-profit companies.
  I support legislation to bring down the high cast of prescription 
drugs, which are driving up premiums for families nationwide.
  BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois now pays more for prescription drugs 
than they do on inpatient hospital costs, and they readily admit that 
drug costs are contributing to premium hikes.
  We need to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. We need to end 
``pay for delay'' agreements and get cheaper drugs on the market 
quicker. We need to prohibit direct-to-consumer advertising. We need 
more transparency into how drug prices are set, and we need penalties 
on drug companies that gouge the American public.
  I also support enforcing portions of the law that Republicans have 
sabotaged and undermined since its inception. We need to allow the 
``risk corridor'' program to operate unimpeded. We need to expand 
Medicaid in all States, especially since we know that premiums are 
highest and competition lowest in nonexpansion States, and we need to 
enforce the law--which is why the very first order of business going 
forward must be for President Trump to rescind the Executive order he 
issued on January 20.
  The President's order directed the heads of all Federal agencies 
responsible for implementing and enforcing the Affordable Care Act to 
stand down, to not implement the law, to not enforce the law.
  Now that the page has hopefully been turned on the ugly ``repeal'' 
chapter of this saga, it is time for the President and his 
administration to faithfully implement, enforce, and help improve this 
law.
  I am calling on the President and congressional Republicans: Now is 
the time to stop undermining the law that is enjoying record support 
from Americans.
  Now is not time to throw sand in the law's eyes, put a spoke in its 
wheel, and then turn around, gloat, and blame Democrats when it does 
not function properly.
  The Affordable Care Act while championed by Democrats and President 
Obama, included over 100 Republican amendments and, for better or 
worse, borrowed heavily from Republican ideas for the marketplace.
  Let's end these partisan games.
  This law--the good and the shortcomings--is on all of us to improve.
  Democrats have ideas, but we cannot do it alone. Remember, the 
Republican Party controls the House, the Senate, and the White House.
  They are in charge. If improvements are going to be made, Republicans 
are going to have to get serious.
  Now that the half-baked repeal effort has collapsed, my hope is that 
Republicans will finally be willing to sit down and work with 
Democrats. I know I am ready to pull up a chair.

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