[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 172 (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6796-S6797]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Healthcare

  Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, for years, I have been calling on 
Democrats and Republicans to work together to improve the healthcare 
law. There are some, like me, who recognize the benefits of the 
existing healthcare law, as well as the areas that need fixing, and I 
have proposed that we partner together to strengthen our healthcare 
system.
  For the first time, we have legislation in the Senate that has broad 
bipartisan support and would improve issues with our healthcare system 
by stabilizing the individual marketplace and lowering premiums for 
Americans. This is what I have long pushed for. Today, it is more 
important than ever that we act to pass this bipartisan legislation. I 
would like to take a few minutes to explain why.
  Beginning next week, on November 1, millions of Americans, including 
Hoosiers, can sign up for healthcare coverage through the individual 
marketplace. Unfortunately, as consumers prepare to shop for health 
insurance plans, there is uncertainty and instability in the 
marketplace and confusion and higher prices for consumers. That wasn't 
the case earlier this year, as both public and private analyses showed 
that individual marketplaces were relatively stable and improving.
  For the last 10 months, though, the administration has worked to make 
it harder for Americans to access affordable healthcare and 
destabilized the markets. For many months, the administration refused 
to commit to continuing important cost-sharing reduction payments that 
reduce costs for consumers and, even worse, played politics with these 
payments. This culminated with the administration's announcement 
earlier this month that it would discontinue cost-sharing reduction 
payments. This decision came only weeks before open enrollment.
  There is no disputing a simple fact: The administration's actions 
created uncertainty for insurers, causing some to significantly raise 
rates and others to leave the market altogether. As a result, many 
Americans will be forced to pay more for healthcare plans through the 
individual marketplace.
  For example, CareSource, an insurance company that offers insurance 
to Hoosiers through the individual marketplace, told me earlier this 
year that rates would rise 2.2 percent if the Federal Government 
committed to continuing cost-sharing reduction payments. Because the 
administration refused to do so, rates for CareSource plans are on 
average now 20 percent higher for Hoosiers than last year.
  Centene, the other insurer offering coverage in the marketplace, will 
have average rate increases of nearly 36 percent. In addition to higher 
rates, it will be harder for Hoosiers to find help enrolling in 
healthcare plans because the administration slashed 82 percent of 
Navigator Program funding for my home State of Indiana--the deepest cut 
of any State in the country.
  Consumers also have a shorter period to enroll than in past years. 
The administration plans to do maintenance and shut down HealthCare.gov 
for 12 hours on all but one Sunday throughout the open enrollment 
period.
  It does not have to be this way. As I have said for years, there is 
another path--a bipartisan path. We should work in a bipartisan manner 
to improve our healthcare system, all Americans working together. I 
have pressed the administration to commit to providing stability for 
health insurance markets and to working together on bipartisan 
solutions that reduce healthcare costs and ensure access to quality 
medical care.
  Over the past several months, I have engaged in bipartisan 
conversations in meetings with my colleagues to discuss ways we can 
partner together to stabilize our healthcare markets. We have talked to 
a range of healthcare experts. There has been a good-faith effort to 
find common ground on steps we can take to lower costs for families. 
That is what we should be doing.
  After participating in this effort, I was pleased that Senators Lamar 
Alexander and Patty Murray reached a bipartisan agreement last week. It 
makes improvements to our healthcare system and helps reduce costs for 
our families.
  I am proud to cosponsor this legislation. It continues cost-sharing 
reduction payments that reduce consumers' deductibles. It also reduces 
copays for two years and restores funding to help Americans navigate 
signing up for health insurance. It enables more flexibility for States 
without undermining essential health benefits or harming people who 
have preexisting conditions.
  If this legislation came to a vote today, I am confident it would 
receive more than the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate. It has 
wide-ranging support from both Democrats and Republicans. It has 
bipartisan support, not only in the Senate but also from Republican and 
Democratic Governors all across the country. We have heard from groups, 
including the American Medical Association, the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce, and AARP, urging Congress to move forward on this proposal 
because it is common sense. It benefits families. It helps stabilize 
the insurance markets.
  It is our job to protect families from unnecessary increases in the 
cost of healthcare, particularly those within our control. We have an 
opportunity to do that with the bipartisan Alexander-Murray agreement 
that we achieved by working together.
  The healthcare debate should not be a political game. The stakes are 
way too high for that because healthcare impacts the well-being and the 
economic security of millions of Americans.
  I have said over and over that the American people expect us to work 
together to try and make life a little bit better. At the very least, 
we should do no harm. The Alexander-Murray agreement not only provides 
relief for families, it actually helps put them in a better place. 
There is no doubt we have more work to do, but this proposal is an 
important first step. Let's strengthen the healthcare system and make 
healthcare more affordable with this bipartisan solution.
  I yield back.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.

[[Page S6797]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MERKLEY. 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.