[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 88 (Monday, May 22, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3053-S3054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Healthcare Legislation

  Mr. President, on another matter, as we all know, this Chamber 
continues to consider the best way forward to repeal and replace 
ObamaCare. The entire Republican Conference, all 52 of us, have been 
meeting regularly in small groups and larger groups so we can finally 
put ObamaCare behind us. I have to say it is a shame that none of our 
Democratic

[[Page S3054]]

colleagues appear willing to lift a finger to help us do that, even 
though they know that ObamaCare is in meltdown mode.
  We have promised multiple times, at least in the last three 
elections, to do away with this disaster of a healthcare law so that 
American families can get the healthcare they need at a price they can 
afford. This isn't just a talking point. This is our goal. This is our 
objective.
  When I said that ObamaCare has been a failure, I am reminded of a 
letter written to me by one of my constituents from the Dallas-Fort 
Worth area. This gentleman is a small business owner. Since the 
implementation of ObamaCare, he has had to change his insurance each 
year, and every time, his rates have increased. He estimates they had 
gone up from roughly $350 a month now to $800 a month, not to mention 
his out-of-pocket costs. They have skyrocketed from $3,500 to $14,000. 
That is not affordable healthcare. At that price, I can't imagine it 
does him much good at all, particularly when you couple those high 
premiums with higher deductibles, in many instances $6,000 or more for 
the deductible alone. So even though you are paying premiums for 
insurance and those premiums are going up every year, you still have 
such a high deductible that it effectively makes you self-insured, and 
you don't benefit from the insurance you actually have.
  The first time this gentleman was forced to change his healthcare 
plan was because his insurance carrier completely pulled out of the 
marketplace, and that is something we are hearing across the country. 
It is not just a Texas phenomenon. I imagine there are similar stories 
in States like Indiana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan, 
and Montana, just to mention a few. It is simply proof that the 
ObamaCare experiment is a failure, and the government-mandated, one-
size-fits-all approach to healthcare doesn't work very well.
  The next year, this same gentleman went with a different insurance 
company, but they canceled the plan he was already on. Then that 
insurance company pulled all individual healthcare plans from the 
State, so he had to find another health insurance plan.
  That is not where the bad news ends. The doctor he has had for 20 
years didn't accept the new health insurance plan, so instead of 
finding a new doctor, which he didn't want to do, he is now paying out 
of pocket so that he can keep the doctor he wants.
  Remember what President Obama said countless times: If you like your 
plan, you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep your 
doctor. He said that a family of four would find, on average, a savings 
of $2,500 a year in their health insurance premiums. None of that has 
proved to be true. This is an experiment that has ended in failure. It 
didn't turn out to be the case for this constituent of mine; each time 
his plan changed, he saw a price increase and a coverage decrease.
  Even if Hillary Clinton had been elected President of the United 
States, we would still need to revisit the failures of ObamaCare 
because the situation is simply not sustainable for roughly about 11 
million people--about 6 percent of the people who get their insurance 
in the individual market.
  In spite of knowing that many of their constituents are being hurt by 
the failures of ObamaCare, our Democratic colleagues--even though they 
know it--refuse to do anything about it. Again, we invite them to work 
with us, not for our benefit but for the benefit of the people they 
represent.
  This is not making life any easier for my constituents in Texas, and 
I am confident that is the case for people across the country. That is 
why our efforts to replace ObamaCare are so important, and that is why 
we will keep fighting to get it done because families across the 
country need access to quality healthcare they can afford that is not 
chosen for them but is what they choose because it suits their needs.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all quorum calls until 
5:30 p.m. today be equally divided.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CORNYN. I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.