[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4255]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, next week does indeed mark the 1-year 
anniversary since the Democratic health care bill was signed into law. 
We all recall the debate quite well. It was the most partisan of 
debates. The only bipartisan moment was in the House when there was 
bipartisan opposition to the new health care bill. In the Senate, it 
was a strictly partisan vote--60 Democrats voted for it, 40 Republicans 
voted against it. If a single Democrat--even one--had changed their 
vote on that Christmas Eve, we would not be looking at the 1-year 
anniversary of the Democratic health care bill. This morning, I would 
like to look back on what we learned during that year.
  Shortly before the final vote, then-Speaker Pelosi famously said that 
the Democrats had to pass the bill so they could find out what was in 
it--away, as she put it, from the ``fog of controversy.'' Now that the 
fog has lifted, the question arises, What do we know now that we did 
not know then?
  We now know that those who promised us that ``if you like your plan, 
you can keep it'' were dead wrong. The Obama administration has already 
admitted that at least 7 million seniors will now lose their Medicare 
Advantage plans. And one of the administration's own top health care 
analysts recently admitted that this oft-repeated pledge was ``not true 
in all cases.''
  We all knew the bill created strong incentives for businesses to drop 
or change employees' health care plans, the ones they get through their 
jobs. Now that the bill is passed, the White House admits it too. One 
recent study suggests that as many as 35 million American workers could 
see their employer-based health insurance plans dropped in this way. 
The administration's promises on this point, which were echoed by 
Capitol Hill Democrats, such as Speaker Pelosi, turned out to be 
hollow. Today, even the administration itself predicts more than half 
of all American workers will see their current employer-sponsored 
health care plans change within a couple of years' time.
  Shortly after the health care bill became law, the Department of 
Labor acknowledged all of that. Small businesses would be most 
affected, it said, with as many as 80 percent expected to have to 
change their coverage to comply with the new law. For all remaining 
businesses, the administration now estimates that somewhere between 39 
and 69 percent will be forced to change their plans to comply with 
costly and burdensome new dictates from health care bureaucrats in 
Washington.
  What happened to the reassuring predictions that everybody's plans 
would stay the same? It turned out to be nonsense--utter nonsense.
  Americans have every reason to be outraged, not only by the bill 
itself but also by the rhetoric that was used to sell it. Far from 
being reassured of all the bill's merits, Americans feel betrayed. 
Check the record. I doubt that one Democrat who voted for this bill 
told their constituents they would see a change in their plans. Yet 
here we are a year later and they just expect people to accept it. 
Democrats knew exactly what Americans wanted to hear, and that is what 
they told them. Perhaps the biggest deception of all was the claim that 
people could keep the plans they have.
  OK, what else do we know about the bill? At a time when nearly 14 
million Americans are looking for work, we know this bill only 
increases costs and burdens on employers and small businesses, making 
it even harder for them to keep current workers on board or to hire new 
ones. According to the independent Congressional Budget Office, the 
health care bill will result in the loss of more than 800,000 jobs over 
the next 10 years. What is more, 200 economists and experts, including 
two former CBO Directors, have said that the law's ``expensive mandates 
and penalties . . . create major barriers to stronger job growth.''
  Another chief selling point of the bill is the promise that it would 
lower costs. Yet now we hear estimates from one of the administration's 
top actuaries that it will increase costs by $311 billion. And the CBO 
now estimates it will increase Federal health care spending by nearly 
$\1/2\ trillion over the next decade.
  What about the cost to individuals and families? Well, according to 
the same independent analyst at the CBO, once fully implemented, the 
bill is expected to cause premiums on family policies to increase an 
average of $2,100 a year. So $311 billion more in cost to the 
government; $2,100 a year more in cost to the average family.
  Meanwhile, other new rules are making it difficult for families to 
secure child-only plans. The fact that families in 19 States no longer 
have access to these once-common plans is just one of the harmful, 
unintended consequences Americans are stuck with now that the ``fog of 
controversy'' has lifted.
  Taken all together, these broken promises illustrate why so many 
Americans continue to support a full--a full--repeal, which the new 
Republican-led House has passed, followed by commonsense reforms that 
will actually lower costs, improve care, and protect jobs.
  The fog of controversy may have lifted, but contrary to the confident 
predictions of some, the contents of the health care bill are even 
worse than anyone expected. One year later, it looks even worse than it 
did then, and that is saying something.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arizona is 
recognized.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that morning business 
be for 1 hour and that the time be equally divided.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.

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