[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2450-S2451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Healthcare

  Madam President, finally, on another matter--healthcare--next week, 
health insurance companies will begin to announce their initial 
proposed rates for 2019 in each State across the country. When they do, 
every American should remember that President Trump and congressional 
Republicans have spent the last 1\1/2\ years trying to sabotage our 
healthcare system in a way that would increase costs and decrease 
access to quality healthcare.
  It is true that last summer the Senate Republican effort to repeal 
our current healthcare system and gut Medicaid--an effort that would 
have left tens of millions uninsured and raised costs on millions 
more--ended, thankfully for the American people, in failure.
  Despite that legislative failure, President Trump, his 
administration, and congressional Republicans have

[[Page S2451]]

committed several other acts of sabotage--raising premiums and hurting 
healthcare--all, it seems to me, for a political vendetta.
  For a long time, the President refused to guarantee that the 
administration will honor the cost-sharing program, which reduces 
premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for low-income Americans. He 
eventually canceled payments for that program, causing major 
uncertainty and confusion in the markets.
  Then, Republicans repealed the healthcare coverage requirement as a 
part of their tax bill and put nothing in its place. The CBO projects 
that repealing the coverage requirement could cause rates to increase 
by as much as 10 percent and result in millions more people without 
insurance. So if you can't get insurance, Mr. or Mrs. American, or if 
your premiums are going up, you know who caused it--the President and 
congressional Republicans by sabotaging the law that a majority of 
Americans want to see stay on the books.
  Making things worse, earlier this week, the comment period ended for 
a proposed Trump administration rule that is perhaps the most radical 
sabotage of our healthcare system yet--a rule that would expand the 
availability of junk insurance plans. These junk insurance plans would 
force higher premiums on people with preexisting conditions, impose an 
age tax on older Americans, and once again could subject Americans to 
the devastating effects of medical bankruptcy, which too many people go 
through now. Many plans might not cover essential services, such as 
prescription drugs, maternity care, and mental health services.
  Each of these actions taken by President Trump and Republicans in 
Congress will raise costs and reduce access. We are truly living under 
TrumpCare today, with no effort by the President or congressional 
Republicans to make it better.
  Unfortunately, starting next week, the American people could well see 
the devastating consequences of 1\1/2\ years of healthcare sabotage 
reflected in the 2019 rates.