[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 88 (Monday, May 22, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3052]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Healthcare

  Mr. President, on another matter--healthcare. Today, the Trump 
administration delayed for another 90 days their decision on whether to 
defend the administration's position in a lawsuit filed by the House 
Republicans about the cost-sharing payments in the Affordable Care Act. 
It is a decision that greatly increases the uncertainty in our 
healthcare system.
  The cost-sharing program keeps healthcare costs low for working 
Americans and helps insurers stay in the marketplace, giving Americans 
more choices. It keeps the average person's premiums down, keeps their 
deductibles low. It makes it a lot easier for many working Americans to 
afford healthcare. That was its purpose, and it is succeeding in its 
purpose, but by continuing to sow uncertainty about this program, both 
by refusing to defend the lawsuit and by making outright threats to end 
it, the Trump administration has already caused insurers to flee the 
marketplace or propose rate increases for the next year. Let me repeat. 
Right now, the Trump administration's actions are sowing great 
uncertainty that causes insurers to pull out of States and increase 
their costs, making it more likely that working Americans won't be able 
to afford coverage next year.

  A spokesperson for America's Health Insurance Plans, AHIP, the 
industry's main trade group, said the following, and this is their 
quote, not mine:

       We need swift action and long-term certainty on [the cost-
     sharing program]. It is the single most destabilizing factor 
     in the individual market, and millions of Americans could 
     soon feel the impact of fewer choices, higher costs and 
     reduced access to care.

  The insurance industry itself is saying that the No. 1 thing that 
could be done to keep costs down, to keep other insurers in the 
marketplace, is to make permanent cost sharing.
  President Trump's attempt to blame what is happening on ObamaCare is 
totally contradicted by what the health insurance plans say when it 
comes to cost sharing. So refusing to guarantee the cost-sharing 
payments is sabotage, plain and simple, and the Trump administration 
knows it.
  The administration made the last cost-sharing payment but refuses to 
say they will continue to make them permanently. They know they will 
get blamed for the chaos that would ensue should they end these 
payments. They are afraid to do that. But they also want to threaten 
the stability of the healthcare system in order to get Democrats to 
work with them on their healthcare bill. So what they tried to do is 
have their cake and eat it too. They said: We are going to delay the 
lawsuit, but we are still going to have that uncertainty that hurts 
Americans out there. That is profoundly irresponsible.
  Threatening to defund healthcare in order to win political leverage 
is hostage-taking at its very worst because it holds hostage millions 
of innocent Americans who very much need healthcare costs to be lower 
and affordable. It is already causing massive uncertainty. It will only 
get worse if the administration continues to kick the can down the road 
3 months at a time.
  There is one very simple solution: Instead of delaying the decision 
every 3 months, the White House ought to step up to the plate and say 
once and for all that they will make those payments permanently--
payments which help millions of Americans pay less for their 
healthcare, payments which the insurance industry itself says would 
help stabilize markets and help people gain healthcare.