[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 17, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1588-S1589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Healthcare

  Mr. BRAUN. Madam President, I have come to the floor several times in 
the little over 2 years I have been here, and a common theme--and I 
think we all know it as Senators--is that our healthcare system is 
broken. It is driven by misaligned industry incentives that promote 
opaque, behind-the-scenes pricing maneuvers at the expense of patients 
and healthcare consumers.
  Increased transparency is the key to fixing our broken healthcare 
system. It will allow Americans to have skin in the game and deal 
directly with their healthcare providers to make informed decisions. 
They cannot do that very well currently.
  Pulling the curtain back on a healthcare system to restore market 
forces, which aren't really there now, to increase innovation and 
competition, particularly in regard to price, quality, and service--you 
do that with anything else. A consumer is engaged, they are informed, 
and you have many competitors competing for their business.
  In order for Americans to regain their sovereignty in a healthcare 
system, you need the ability to be able to navigate accordingly. 
Congress must act to provide Americans with these tools before we try 
to throw more government at a broken healthcare system.
  Government pays for a portion of healthcare; more is paid through the 
private sector. If we reform it, it makes it less expensive for both 
payers. To give you an example, sometimes what you hear here sounds 
like it is theoretical, hypothetical. I took on the cause roughly 12, 
13 years ago in my Main Street enterprise that was just starting to 
grow, doing the things it was supposed to do, and that is 
transportation distribution. Then all of a sudden, healthcare becomes a 
subset of your business, and about the only solution you would get each 
year is, well, you are lucky it is not going up more than 5 or 10 
percent.
  I heard that too many years in a row. I was sick and tired of that 
being what I would have to live with as a CEO who had a healthy, 
successful business other than the healthcare component. What did I do? 
Healthcare plans are basically made up of three or four features.
  You have your deductible. Ours had risen more than I was willing to 
take it up any higher. The only way you could buy premiums down would 
be to do that or change underwriters every 2 or 3 years. That gets to 
be a hassle as you become a larger company, and the profits were so 
great then for people who did it, you could end up bringing your cost 
down. Well, then you were right back in the old groove of, you are 
lucky it is only going up 5 to 10 percent the next year on renewal.
  You also have coinsurance. Most people don't worry about that until 
they get significantly ill or have a bad accident. That is the 
percentage you have to pay once you exceed your deductible.
  When you have those variables, you have one other item that almost 
everyone loves in their plan, and that is a low copayment. Those 
copayments are paid for in the high premiums, but it is because they 
constitute nearly 25 percent of most healthcare plans, and that is to 
keep skin out of the game for the people who use the system.
  Well, I was going to do something different and decided to limit that 
expense when you really get sick or have a bad accident, covered 
coinsurance through the company, and asked my employees to engage from 
dollar one in shopping around and see if that would work.
  Lo and behold, it has now been 13 years, and we have been able to 
keep a good plan in place, lower family healthcare premium 
contributions, and have not had a premium increase. What is it based 
upon? It is finding the meager transparency that was out there 12, 13 
years ago and enhancing it over time. To give an example, if you pick 
up the phone, you get on the web, you will find anywhere from 30, 50, 
60, 70

[[Page S1589]]

percent savings. Procedures like MRIs, CAT scans, colonoscopies can run 
anywhere from 700 to 3,000 bucks. Your insurance companies seem to 
always shove you to the most expensive one. They give you these huge 
discounts, take their margin out of it, and it still costs you a 
bundle.
  When the consumer gets engaged, you will see prices start to come 
down. LASIK surgery is the best example, where you have no insurance 
involved. Ten, fifteen years ago, that could be up to $2,000 an eye. 
Now, it is advertised heavily, providers go after their customers, and 
you can probably get it done for as little as $250 to $500 an eye, with 
better quality. That sounds like a lot of other areas of our economy 
that actually work.
  Last Congress, I put healthcare transparency at the forefront of my 
agenda and have definitely been the most outspoken Senator that we have 
a broken system; put almost all the blame on the industry itself 
because it does not give us transparency. It does not want to compete. 
The healthcare customer is somewhat to blame because they don't want to 
pay for anything. And I don't think the answer is bringing more 
government into it until you reform the system.
  We need to shine light on the dark corners and the misaligned 
incentives embedded in the current system. Among the bills I will 
reintroduce this Congress is the Healthcare PRICE Transparency Act. 
Every Senator should want to be on that bill to hold the industry 
accountable. This will empower patients through transparency. It will 
drive competition among hospitals and insurers by requiring them to 
publicly disclose their prices so patients can compare between 
providers and insurers.
  Last Congress, a number of my colleagues joined in my effort to bring 
more transparency and affordability to healthcare consumers. I am 
excited to reintroduce the Healthcare PRICE Transparency Act soon and 
hope all of my colleagues will join in so that we can collectively 
lower healthcare costs before we try to get more government involved
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.