[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4591-4592]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. The political world this week has been focused on the 
U.S. Supreme Court and the arguments that have taken place over there 
with respect to what has been referred to as ObamaCare.
  I rise today to discuss how the 2-year-old health care law is forcing 
more government intrusion into the lives of Americans.
  After all, what could be more intrusive than the Federal Government 
telling you the type of health care coverage you must purchase? 
``Purchase this product or face a penalty.''
  With this law, I believe the American people have recognized that 
Congress has exceeded its constitutional authority. Just this week, a 
poll conducted by The Hill found that 49 percent of likely voters 
believe that the Supreme Court will rule against the constitutionality 
of the health care law, while only 29 percent believe it will be 
upheld. The American people have to ask themselves whether we should be 
able to punish citizens based whether they purchase a product from the 
private sector.
  The Commerce Clause only allows the Federal Government to regulate 
``existing activity'' that affects interstate commerce. I hope this 
distinction will be recognized by our justices on the Supreme Court. 
With no end in sight to escalating health care costs, Republicans want 
to see innovation within the private sector to bring about changes to 
our health care system. Today, Medicare and Medicaid are running up our 
national debt and bankrupting our states. One would think less 
government involvement, not more, would help bring health care costs 
under control. Instead, the health care law builds on this 
administration's desire to have the Federal Government control 
Americans' health care decisions. To this end, the Obama administration 
has created 159 new boards, bureaucracies and programs under ObamaCare.
  As of this month, the administration has released more than 12,000 
pages of regulations related to the law. The secretary of Health and 
Human Services will have the power to make more than 1,700 rulings 
affecting Americans and the health care they seek. Time and time again, 
my colleagues and I have warned that adding more red tape and 
bureaucratic oversight that will affect the relationship between you 
and your doctor is not the prescription Americans are looking for.
  We want to protect the relationship between the patient and 
physician. Consultation between the patient and the physician should be 
the determining factor in what procedures that patient chooses, not 
someone who sits on a panel in Washington, DC.
  However, this may well be the case as the health care law 
concentrates power in the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This is 
the same task force that in November 2009 recommended that women 
between the ages of 40 and 49 no longer obtain annual mammograms. These 
are the types of recommendations that Washington bureaucrats could make 
in the future. I especially understand the importance of early 
detection of cancer, having been there myself, and will fight to see 
that individuals, through the recommendations of their doctors, are in 
charge of determining their own health care procedures.
  Throughout the debate 2 years ago we constantly heard from folks on 
the other side of the aisle that if you liked your health care 
coverage, you could keep it. Well, guess what. According to the latest 
CBO estimates, you can ask 5 million people who will see their 
employer-sponsored health care end in 2016 whether they had the 
opportunity to keep what they like.
  Further, the incentives for employers to drop their coverage and move 
employees onto a taxpayer-subsidized plan means we could see up to 35 
million Americans lose their current coverage over the first 10 years 
of implementation of this law.
  Washington is now in the business of reducing the flexibility of 
consumer-driven health care policies such as health savings accounts 
and flexible spending arrangements. Congress created health savings 
accounts to allow health care consumers who wish to participate in the 
program more control over their own money and how they choose to spend 
that money for health care services. Now contributions to these 
arrangements will be limited to $2,500 per year, and over-the-counter

[[Page 4592]]

medications will require a prescription if they are purchased within 
these tax-free dollars. This is already leading to doctors having to 
fill out more paperwork so an individual can walk into a drugstore to 
purchase aspirin or cold medicine. Yet again this is another glaring 
example of bureaucratic meddling in the lives of American consumers.
  Small businesses are also feeling the intrusive effects of ObamaCare. 
In the most recent survey of small businesses by the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce, an astounding 74 percent of small business owners surveyed 
said the health care law makes it harder for businesses to hire more 
employees. Think about that for a moment. Three out of four small 
business owners are having difficulty hiring because of the uncertainty 
of health care costs.
  Finally, our States are also feeling the heavy hand of more 
government control. The Medicaid expansion that begins in 2014 will 
make it increasingly difficult for State leaders to balance their 
budgets due to strict maintenance of effort requirements. These 
requirements prevent States from designing health care programs 
specifically tailored for their own citizens.
  Medicaid currently consumes about one-quarter of State budgets and 
ObamaCare creates the largest expansion of the program since its 
inception. Through 2023, the cost to States is now estimated to be an 
additional $118 billion. In my home State of Georgia, the expansion 
will cost the State about $2.5 billion through 2020. Money in the 
budget to pay for this expansion will come at the expense of higher 
education, transportation, and law enforcement services. Nationally 
24.7 million people who will be added to the Medicaid rolls will be 
entering a broken system where patients are denied access to about 40 
percent of the physicians because reimbursement rates do not keep up 
with medical costs.
  Two years ago the legislative process that unfolded before us was not 
something any Senator should be proud of today. Backroom deal making 
and forcing legislation through under a subversive process left the 
American people angry and upset with Congress. If we don't understand 
that, just look at the approval rating of Congress today, and this 
played a major role in that approval rating.
  I hope in the future we will have an opportunity to revisit the 
system. Our system does need reforming, but it needs to be done in the 
right way and it needs to be done in a very transparent way. I hope we 
can come up with a solution that is actually supported by the American 
public, not solutions that make the American public angry.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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