[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 73 (Monday, May 7, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2506-S2507]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               HEALTHCARE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the subject of healthcare, last week, 
insurance companies in the State of Virginia announced that health 
insurance premiums would be much higher this coming year. More than 
100,000 Virginians who rely on these plans are staring at a proposed 
2019 premium that will be 15 percent or 27 percent or 64 percent 
higher, depending on which insurer they use. In filing their rates, the 
health insurers are pointing to the

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actions of the Trump administration and congressional Republicans as 
major reasons for the premium increases. The Trump administration and 
our Republican friends in Congress are the reason these premiums are 
going up, according to insurers. They suggest that is one of the 
reasons.
  Remember, President Trump canceled payments for the cost-sharing 
program, which reduces premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for low-
income Americans. Republicans in Congress repealed the healthcare 
coverage requirement, which the CBO itself predicted would raise 
premiums by 10 percent more each year than they would otherwise be and 
result in millions more people without insurance.
  Sometimes our Republican colleagues make a mistake and speak the 
truth and admit that they are to blame in good part for these premium 
increases. Former HHS Secretary Tom Price said he ``believes that 
[repealing the individual mandate] actually will harm the pool in the 
exchange market, and consequently, that drives up the cost for other 
folks.''
  This is not Chuck Schumer, a Democrat; this is the Republican former 
Congressman, the Republican-appointed HHS Secretary saying that 
Republican acts are causing premiums to go up.
  The sabotage doesn't end there. As we speak, the Trump administration 
is finalizing a rule that would expand the availability of junk 
insurance plans that 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.
  Make no mistake, all of this sabotage by Republicans has 
consequences. TrumpCare is already heralding double-digit premium 
increases in States across the country. The rates in Virginia are bad, 
and the rates in Maryland may be worse. Maryland insurance companies 
are announcing 2019 rates today, and one PPO plan is asking for a 91-
percent increase--91 percent.
  For the sake of a political vendetta--again, the hard right: Repeal 
ObamaCare; show it doesn't work--Republicans are taking it out on 
millions of American families by making the rates higher to prove a 
political point so that Donald Trump can do a few more tweets. It is 
not going to stick. It is not going to work. The American people know 
who is in charge. The Republicans have the Presidency, the House, and 
the Senate. The buck stops there when the rates go up.
  President Trump and Republicans promised Americans a better, cheaper 
healthcare system. Remember, President Trump said that he is going to 
``take care of everybody''--those are his words--and deliver 
``healthcare that is far less expensive and far better.'' President 
Trump simply has not delivered. President Trump talked and talked and 
talked about making healthcare better and cheaper as he ran and while 
he has been President, but in every respect he has failed to deliver. 
In every respect he has made the problem worse.
  Simply put, President Trump has dropped the ball on healthcare, and 
the public knows it.

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