[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 177 (Wednesday, November 1, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6941-S6942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Healthcare
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, since day one, the President of the
United States has made it clear that his top priority, when it comes to
healthcare in our country, is to score political points by attacking
ObamaCare. He has even said repeatedly that healthcare in our country
will ``implode,'' but this was not just a prediction that President
Trump made, it was his goal, and he has tried virtually everything he
can do to make that implosion a reality.
In January, he abruptly pulled funding for outreach days before the
end of the 2017 open enrollment period without any analysis of how that
might affect patients and families, and he signed executive orders
specifically designed to inject uncertainty and increased costs into
the healthcare system.
President Trump then dedicated the spring and summer to attempting to
jam partisan, extraordinarily destructive legislation through the House
and Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act, despite one independent
analysis after another showing that each version of TrumpCare would
cause premiums to spike, take coverage away from millions of people,
rip protections away from patients with preexisting conditions, and gut
Medicaid.
This fall--after TrumpCare failed another time in the Senate--he
slashed by 90 percent the investments that help inform families about
their coverage options and followed through on his year-long threat to
discontinue payments designed to lower out-of-pocket costs for low-
income enrollees.
This is a scenario that healthcare experts said would cause mass
consumer confusion and anxiety, one that insurance companies planned
for by shifting that burden of uncertainty to patients and taxpayers in
the form of higher premiums and fewer options in State marketplaces.
Now, this is by no means the full list of ways President Trump has
attempted his healthcare sabotage, but it does explain why we are here
now. Today is the first day of the open enrollment period for 2018, and
as a direct result of this President's actions, families are going to
see higher premiums, more out-of-pocket costs, and fewer coverage
options. Many families will have to change their coverage if they want
to avoid paying hundreds of dollars more in premiums.
At a time when we need to continue to do more to bend the healthcare
cost curve in the right direction, taxpayers are being burdened with
higher
[[Page S6942]]
healthcare costs to the Federal Government--not because of any
improvement in quality or comprehensiveness, just because of the chaos
this administration has caused.
In fact, just last week, the Trump administration proposed a rule to
double down on the sabotage in 2019 that would let insurers cover fewer
services in addition to raising costs. I have to say, I just truly
never imagined that a President of the United States would so openly
and uncaringly root for the people of this country to be worse off. But
that is exactly what President Trump is doing. It needs to be said, and
it needs to be stopped.
What makes this even more frustrating is that a lot of it could have
been stopped months ago if Republican leaders hadn't insisted on trying
to help this administration carry out its partisan, wrecking-ball
healthcare strategy.
Back in September, Chairman Alexander and I were very near agreement
on a bipartisan bill to stabilize healthcare markets and protect
families from higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs through regular
order, through a process that actually engaged over half the Senate. We
were on the verge of reaching an agreement when Republican leaders
froze our negotiations. Why? In order to jam TrumpCare through the
Senate one more time.
Let me repeat that. Republican leaders hit the pause button on a
bipartisan process that could have lowered premiums and stabilized
markets, exposing our patients and families to the full impact of
President Trump's sabotage.
That is the bad news, but the good news is that the legislation
Chairman Alexander and I ultimately agreed on can and will still have
an impact--not just a few years from now but in 2018--if Republican
leaders don't stand in the way again. Our bill would, among other
priorities, continue out-of-pocket cost reduction payments and make
sure that patients and families, not insurance companies, see the
benefit of that certainty in the form of rebates next year. The
legislation Chairman Alexander and I have proposed, with 12 Democratic
and 12 Republican cosponsors, would do a lot to help us get things back
on track. It would tie President Trump's hands on sabotage, and it
would send a very powerful message that elected officials in Congress
can work together to get things done when we focus on common ground
rather than scoring political points.
I would once again urge the majority leader to allow our legislation
to get a vote. It has the support of 60-plus Senators, and it is
growing. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said that it
provides billions in savings and would stabilize the markets this year
and lower premiums in 2019. And the President told Chairman Alexander
that he supports this process moving forward.
There is no reason to wait. There is absolutely no excuse for
inaction, and I am going to continue doing everything I can to make
that clear until Republican leaders finally listen to the patients and
families they serve.
Mr. President, while I am here today, I also want to take a few
minutes to speak on another way that I believe President Trump and
Republicans are taking our country in a direction that is deeply
harmful; that is, by stacking our courts with extreme conservative
judges.
The Senate this week is going to vote on four judicial nominees who
each have the far-rightwing seal of approval. Two are on President
Trump's short list for Supreme Court Justices, meaning they would
automatically vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Unfortunately, their views
on many things--LGBTQ rights, sexual assault, criminal justice, and
corporate interests--are just as deeply troubling. One of the nominees
we are considering this week advocated for using electric shocks for
criminal punishment, and two--Amy Barrett and Stephanos Bibas--were
nominated only after Republicans blocked the nominations of Myra Selby
and Rebecca Haywood--both who happen to be African-American women--to
the respective benches.
It is clear that as Republican leaders' list of legislative failures
grows longer, their effort to enact their agenda by administrative
action and by stacking the courts is only going to accelerate. That
might appeal to extreme conservatives--in fact, I am pretty sure it
does--but the truth is that whether it is healthcare or infrastructure
or taxes, most people across the country really want to see Congress
working together.
I am going to continue doing everything I can to speak out and fight
back against extreme, harmful steps that are being taken by this
administration and allowed by Republican leaders here in Congress and
also to show there is a better way to get things done--by working under
regular order, across the aisle, and putting people, not politics,
first. That is what families rightfully expect, and that is what we all
should be focused on.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.