[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 98 (Thursday, June 8, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H4707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RESCUING AMERICA'S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, when ObamaCare was imposed on the 
Nation, we were promised lower premiums, increased choices, and 
improved care, but exactly the opposite has happened.
  Last year, premiums increased an average of 25 percent, and this year 
we are warned they will increase another 40 percent. Last year, only 
one provider remained in a third of American counties. This year, 
entire regions have no providers at all. In 2015, American life 
expectancies actually declined.
  The Senate now has before it the American Health Care Act. It goes a 
long way toward replacing ObamaCare's compulsory one-size-fits-all 
bureaucratic mess with a consumer-friendly, patient-centered system.
  The AHCA repeals the employer mandate that has trapped many Americans 
in part-time jobs. It repeals the individual mandate that forces 
Americans to buy plans they don't want, don't need, and can't afford. 
It changes the premium structure that forced young families to 
subsidize premiums for those in their peak earning years. It repeals 
nearly $1 trillion of taxes on the American economy. It repeals the 
mandates that force an older couple to maintain pediatric coverage, and 
it maintains the safety net for those with preexisting conditions. It 
assures that these plans are within the financial reach of every 
family.
  Well, despite the obvious failure of ObamaCare and the urgent need to 
rescue our healthcare system, opponents have gone into overdrive to 
frighten people and to distort the facts. The most lurid claim comes 
from the Congressional Budget Office: that 23 million Americans will 
lose their health insurance.
  Now, we should first remember that this is the same office that 
predicted that ObamaCare exchanges would cover 26 million Americans by 
2017. The actual number was 10 million. It predicted that ObamaCare 
would result in slight premium increases between 10 and 13 percent by 
2016. The actual figure was 105 percent.
  So how did the CBO come up with its latest claim? Well, much is based 
on assuming that people won't buy health insurance unless we force 
them. In reality, more people are already choosing not to purchase 
ObamaCare policies, and they are paying a steep tax penalty to boot. 
The CBO ignored provisions that allow people to tailor plans to best 
meet their own needs, which is a powerful market incentive for them to 
purchase plans.
  Second, the CBO predicts that in future years Medicaid recipients 
will leave due to changes that restrain the growth in this program, yet 
it is precisely these changes that focus resources on services and not 
on waste and fraud.
  Third, the CBO predicts that low-income, older Americans in the 
individual market will lose nearly $13,000 of subsidies and be priced 
out of that market, yet it ignores the $90 billion that were freed up 
in the final House version with the express understanding that the 
Senate would redirect these funds to replace these ObamaCare subsidies.
  Fourth, the CBO predicts some people will choose less expensive plans 
without all the bells and whistles required under ObamaCare. Well, 
this, of course, is exactly what choice is all about: people making 
their own decisions based on their own needs and wants. Yet the CBO 
classifies them as uninsured.
  The other major and false claim is that people with preexisting 
conditions will lose coverage, despite explicit language in the AHCA 
that nothing in this act shall be construed as permitting health 
insurers to limit access to health coverage for individuals 
with preexisting conditions.

  There is one exception. If you are one of the 7 percent of patients 
in the individual market, and if you have a preexisting condition, and 
if you live in a State that has requested and received a waiver based 
on having an alternative program to assure your coverage, and if you 
have let your insurance lapse for more than 62 days in the past year, 
then, and only then, can you be charged a higher rate than the general 
population for your health plan, and then only for the first year.
  This year, entire regions of the country will be unable to obtain 
policies on ObamaCare exchanges; premiums are spiraling out of reach 
for families that don't qualify for subsidies; and taxpayer costs are 
skyrocketing. The AHCA offers a way out of this nightmare, restoring a 
healthy, competitive market, where patients will have the widest range 
of choices and the freedom to choose a plan that best meets their own 
needs, along with a supportive tax system to assure that these plans 
are within their financial reach.
  If the Senate can come up with a better plan, let's see it. But one 
thing should be clear: inaction is not an option.

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