[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17061]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     OBAMACARE'S IMPACT IN ARKANSAS

  (Mr. WOMACK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WOMACK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share the realities of 
ObamaCare in my district, the Third District of Arkansas. Health 
insurance enrollment through www.healthcare
.gov can be described as dismal, at best. Only an embarrassing 250 
Arkansans have managed to enroll.
  Shawn Kispert, one of my constituents from Fort Smith, and her 
husband are self-employed and have spent over 64 hours on 
www.healthcare.gov attempting to sign up for the insurance ObamaCare 
requires them to purchase. She then tried to sign up via telephone. 
That was also fruitless.
  The very few Arkansans that have successfully logged on have found, 
in over 60 percent of the State, only one or two provider options 
offering plans that increase their premiums by as much as 600 percent.
  Rod Rogers of Sulphur Springs will see his family's insurance 
premiums go from $248 to $876 a month. Jeff Asher of Russellville is 
facing budget-busting monthly premiums of over $900.
  In October, my fellow Arkansas Republicans and I wrote to Secretary 
Sebelius to ask for more information on ObamaCare's effect on 
Arkansans. Much like the pleas from hardworking taxpayers asking for 
relief from the law's suffocating regulations and overbearing mandates, 
our request was ignored.
  But we don't need a response from the administration to tell us what 
I am hearing from my constituents: ObamaCare is raising the cost of 
health care, creating uncertainty in Arkansas, and hurting Americans. 
We need to replace it with real reforms and focus on the patient, not 
the government.

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