[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2541-S2542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               TrumpCare

  Mr. President, I would like to focus now on one issue: the 
President's promises on healthcare. On the campaign trail, the 
President vowed to the American people that he would repeal and replace 
the Affordable Care Act with better healthcare that lowered costs, 
provided more generous coverage, and guaranteed insurance for everyone, 
with no changes to Medicare whatsoever. That is what he said. We are 
not saying this; he said that. Those are his words: I am going to cover 
everybody. He said, ``We're going to have insurance for everybody . . . 
much less expensive and much better.''
  ``We're going to have insurance for everybody.'' But once in office, 
President Trump broke each and every one of these promises with the 
rollout of his healthcare bill, TrumpCare. Did

[[Page S2542]]

TrumpCare lower costs, as he promised? No. The CBO said premiums would 
go up by as much as 20 percent in the first few years under TrumpCare.
  His bill allowed insurance companies to charge older Americans a 
whopping five times the amount they could charge to younger folks, and 
it was estimated that senior citizens could have to pay as much as 
$14,000 or $15,000 more for healthcare, depending on their income and 
where they lived.
  Did his bill provide for better coverage? No. In fact, the most 
recent version of the TrumpCare bill would allow States to decide 
whether to protect folks who have preexisting conditions. This was one 
of the most popular things in ObamaCare, even if people didn't like 
some other parts of it. If you are a parent and your child has cancer, 
the insurance companies said: We are cutting you off, and you have to 
watch your child suffer because you can't afford healthcare. ACA, the 
Affordable Care Act, ended that. They couldn't cut you off or not give 
you insurance because your child or you had a serious illness that 
would cost the insurance company a lot of money. But now, in the 
proposal they are making, it is up to the States. Tough luck if you 
live in a State without it.
  Did his bill guarantee ``insurance for everyone''? That is what he 
said. No, far from it. The Congressional Budget Office said that 
TrumpCare would result in 24 million fewer Americans with health 
coverage after 10 years.
  Despite an explicit pledge from Candidate Trump on the eve of the 
election that he would protect Medicare--because hard-working Americans 
``made a deal a long time ago''--TrumpCare slashed more than $100 
billion from the Medicare trust fund.
  TrumpCare was the exact opposite of everything the President promised 
his healthcare bill would be. Americans should breathe a sigh of 
relief--a huge sigh of relief--that the bill didn't pass.
  There is a lack of fundamental honesty here. If you believe that 
there shouldn't be government involvement in healthcare and the private 
sector should do it all, that is a fine belief. I don't agree with it. 
But that means higher costs and less coverage for most Americans, and 
the President and, frankly, many of our Republican colleagues are 
trying to have it both ways. They want to say to their rightwing 
friends: I am making government's involvement much less. But then they 
say to the American people: You are going to get better coverage, more 
coverage, at lower rates. The two are totally inconsistent. That is why 
they are having such trouble with TrumpCare over in the House, and 
there will be even worse trouble here in the Senate, if it ever gets 
here, which I hope it doesn't.
  Healthcare is another example of why this President has so little to 
show for his first 100 days. Instead of reaching out to Democrats to 
find areas where we could compromise on improving our healthcare 
system--we Democrats have always said: Don't repeal ObamaCare; improve 
it. We know it needs to have some changes. But, instead, they started 
out on their own in a partisan way, the very same party that criticized 
President Obama for working just with Democrats on the issue, despite a 
yearlong effort to try. So it failed, and it is emblematic of the 
President's first 100 days. The President's ``my way or the highway'' 
approach is one of the main reasons he has so little to show on 
healthcare and so little to show for his first 100 days in office.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Flake pertaining to the introduction of S. 946 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. FLAKE. I yield back the remainder of my time.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time 
during the quorum call be equally divided.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FLAKE. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sullivan). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.