[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17640-17641]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. JOHANNS. I come to the floor to discuss reports I have heard from 
my fellow Nebraskans about the President's health care law.
  Senators have been quoting facts, figures, and reports about the 
negative effects of this law, and that dates back to when the debate 
began in 2009. The reality is that no amount of facts or figures can 
illustrate the real-life stories from our hometowns and from the Main 
Streets of Nebraska. These personal stories are compelling and powerful 
examples of what the reports have been saying all along, why we must 
stand with the American people, and repeal ObamaCare.
  A woman named Deb from Kearney, NE, reached out to me. As millions of 
other Americans, her family's insurance plan has been cancelled, 
notwithstanding the President's promise that if you like your plan, you 
can keep it, period.
  Now she is facing new premiums for her family. They have increased an 
unbelievable 133 percent. Their plan pays for maternity coverage, even 
though they no longer need maternity coverage. Why? Because ObamaCare 
mandates this, they have no choice about it.
  Deb said:

       Obama needs to call it like it is. This is not the 
     affordable health care act.

  Jennifer, from Madison, NE, reached out to me with a very compelling 
story. Jennifer is a two-time cancer survivor. She shared that last 
year she spent a fair amount of time evaluating health care plans, 
doing her homework. She picked a plan that made a lot of sense for her 
family under her circumstances. Recently, Jennifer learned that her 
current plan would no longer be available because of the health care 
law's new requirements. She described her new plan and said:

       My deductible is going up, my co-insurance is going up, and 
     my premium is almost doubling. . . . I think it is an insult 
     to hard working, responsible people like myself to require me 
     to pay for coverage of all these additional services.

  A woman named Hannah from Lincoln, NE, 25 years old, is seeing 
massive increases as well. Her monthly premium is increasing by about 
160 percent, and her annual deductible is more than doubling to over 
$6,000. She explains:

       I'm healthy and active--I love long-distance running--and I 
     rarely get sick. This is impossible for my budget. I feel 
     like Obama is punishing those of us who have graduated 
     college and are working hard trying to make a life for 
     ourselves. We're starting our families, building businesses, 
     launching our careers, and trying to give back to our 
     communities however we can. Now ObamaCare is devastating the 
     American dream of an entire generation.

  These Nebraskans and people all over this great country are 
understandably frustrated. There has been a lot of talk recently about 
this law. There has been a lot of talk about the President's promises. 
Over the course of the last 4 years, none of his promises have centered 
on American families such as these who are losing the plans they like 
or who are paying more for their coverage. None of its promises 
indicated that young people's costs, such as Hannah's, would go through 
the roof.
  One wonders if there had been honesty in this debate whether the bill 
would ever have passed. In fact, President Obama's promises signal just 
the opposite. He said over and over that people could keep their plans 
if they liked them. He even put a ``period'' there, and he said they 
would pay less.
  These consequences are not happening by accident. They are the 
central pillars of the President's law, ObamaCare. The law mandated 
coverage standards for health insurance plans and forced people into 
policies that meet those mandates.
  What is the result? The result is a law that drives up costs. It 
eliminates choices. It is motivated by a simple guiding principle; that 
is, that Nebraskans and Americans can't decide for themselves. It is 
motivated by a principle that government knows best. It is saying that 
the health insurance people freely chose is an inferior plan because 
the President and his people say so. It says that government must 
protect people from their own decisionmaking.
  That is not what the American people want and is not the kind of 
country they want to live in. They have spoken loudly and clearly, 
especially when the truth came out as the realities of ObamaCare are 
settling into their daily lives.
  The frustrating part is that the President's announcement last week 
that Americans can supposedly keep their plans was provoked not by 
devastating stories of millions of Americans or Nebraskans but by 
members of his own party who are now in a panic about their reelection. 
To the American people, to the people I represent in Nebraska, this is 
far too little and far too late.
  In 2010, the administration's own rule on this subject showed as many 
as 80 percent of small business plans and 69 percent of all business 
plans would lose their grandfathered status. I went to the Senate floor 
at the time to warn about it. Everyone on this side of the

[[Page 17641]]

aisle voted to cancel this ill-advised ObamaCare regulation. Let me 
remind everyone that every single Senator on the other side of the 
aisle voted to let this destructive rule go forward. Now Americans and 
Nebraskans are paying the price for that vote.
  Taking action 3 years ago would have been a very thoughtful step to 
avoiding disastrous consequences, but a surprise announcement caught 
everybody by surprise. Essentially 45 days to undo 3 years of ObamaCare 
damage, to protect people in their reelection, is not a serious policy 
effort. If a team is five touchdowns behind, they can't wait until 
there is 1 minute left to start playing. Let's face it. President 
Obama's announcement last week was not a policy decision. It was an 
attempt to arrive at a political fix to save reelection for members of 
his party. Once again he sidestepped Congress and the legislative 
process to unilaterally enact a temporary delay of one of his signature 
law's major provisions. Let me emphasize, it is temporary. It is only 
designed to get us past election day and to try to save some seats for 
his party.
  Even if people believe that insurance companies and every insurance 
commissioner in 50 States can undo all of the planning they have done 
to comply with ObamaCare, to follow the rules--even if one assumes they 
can undo that in 45 days, our citizens will be back in the same boat 
next year after election day. The cancellation policies will again be 
printed. The replacement ObamaCare-approved policies will reveal 
skyrocketing prices, and our citizens will be back in the same lurch. 
The time for temporary fixes that shift the blame or delay the pain 
until the election is over needs to end.
  While I will fight to eliminate this law's most burdensome 
provisions, the truth is that changes to this law create an avalanche 
of consequences. The provisions of this failed policy are so 
interconnected, so ill-fated, that no amount of amending and tweaking 
will solve the problems that American families and businesses are 
facing. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg. I believe full repeal 
is the only real answer for American families.
  Congress can take a stand so millions of Americans can keep their 
doctors and keep the plans they like. We don't need a 2,700-page law 
and $1 trillion in taxes to address the cost of health care or to help 
individuals with preexisting conditions.
  Americans are demanding what they didn't get in 2010 and since this 
law passed. They are demanding transparency. They are demanding 
thoughtful policy steps for a better, more efficient, and lower cost 
health care system. They want leaders who recognize we are not on the 
right track; we never have been with this law. It is time to head in a 
direction that puts Americans first, not political opportunity.
  I believe this is a critical moment. I hope we seize upon this moment 
and do all we can to listen to the American people.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Heitkamp). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUNT. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________