[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12735-12736]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, 3 years ago Congress passed a massive 
health insurance law which didn't have a single Republican vote, and it 
had significant opposition by the public.
  In an administration proclaiming to be the most transparent ever, 
this 2,700-page bill was rammed through Congress in the early morning 
hours on Christmas Eve. Even then-Speaker of the House Pelosi said 
Congress had to pass this bill so that we could find out what was in 
it.
  Well, we did. It was passed, and the American people are not liking 
what they have discovered.
  While the President promised the Affordable Care Act would lower 
health care costs and strengthen our health care system, the law, 
instead, is increasing health insurance premiums, slowing economic 
recovery, and hindering job creation. We should not allow the 
administration to continue to ignore this reality. We must permanently 
delay the Affordable Care Act.
  Since its enactment in 2010, 18 components of the health care law 
have been changed, cancelled, or delayed. The President downplays the 
law's substantial defects by characterizing them as ``glitches and 
bumps'' that are to be expected. He also claims that the Affordable 
Care Act critics are responsible for the law's broken promises by 
arguing that the problem is with ``folks out there who are actively 
working to make this law fail.'' Meanwhile, the Affordable Care Act is 
slowly unraveling.
  Every day brings new information about missed deadlines, funding 
shortfalls, soaring health insurance premium rates, and a technical 
implementation that is floundering. Is it any wonder that this law 
continues to be publicly unpopular?
  With the majority of mandates, fees, and taxes taking effect in 2014, 
we are already beginning to see the alarming effects of the law on 
individuals, families, employers, and on our economy. It is one broken 
promise after another.
  Promise No. 1. In attempting to convince the American people that the 
ACA was good, the President promised it would ``save families $2,500 in 
the coming years.'' But since 2008, the average American family has 
seen health insurance premiums rise more than $3,000. Nonpartisan 
actuaries estimate

[[Page 12736]]

that national health spending will grow at an average rate of close to 
6 percent annually between 2011 and 2021. As national spending ticks 
up, American families will continue to see their monthly premiums go 
up.
  States are beginning to release details on the rates consumers will 
pay for ACA-related health insurance starting on January 1. An 
unfortunate pattern is emerging--ACA-mandated insurance is going to 
increase costs for many Americans.
  Recently, the State of Indiana announced that insurance rates will 
increase 72 percent for consumers in the individual market. Consumers 
in Ohio, Florida, South Carolina, and Maryland have also announced they 
are expecting to see their premiums increase significantly. Just 
yesterday, the Georgia insurance commissioner asked the Department of 
Health and Human Services to extend the deadline to approve health 
plans in their State because some rates were expected in Georgia to 
rise by 198 percent.
  In my home State of Kansas, I consistently hear concerns from 
individuals, business owners, and even local government officials about 
the impending costs of the Affordable Care Act.
  For example, rural Kansas school districts and special education co-
ops, whose budgets are already stretched thin, will now be forced to 
cover the costs associated with the law. This has resulted in 
reductions in employees' hours and may trigger layoffs in order for the 
districts to avoid significant ACA-related penalties.
  It is sad to visit with the director of a special education co-op 
only to learn that less services are going to be provided to special 
needs students because of the costs associated with the Affordable Care 
Act.
  The American people were promised savings and security. Instead, we 
are experiencing less of both. The Affordable Care Act is leaving 
Americans with less options and simply unaffordable care.
  Promise No. 2. In 2009, the President said:

       No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this 
     promise: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep 
     your doctor, period.

  Reality has since whittled down this promise dramatically. If you go 
to the Affordable Care Act Web site today, you will find this far less 
confident statement:

       Depending on the plan you choose in the Marketplace, you 
     may be able to keep your current doctor.

  Even large labor unions have recently criticized the President and 
congressional Democrats for breaking this promise. Notably, the 
National Treasury Employees Union, the union that represents most IRS 
employees, is urging its members to write their elected officials to 
oppose any effort that would force them to participate in the health 
insurance exchanges.
  Further, several unions stated:

       When you and the President sought our support for the 
     Affordable Care Act (ACA), you pledged that if we liked the 
     health plans we have now, we could keep them. Sadly, that 
     promise is under threat.

  And another statement:

       [A]pproximately 3 million laborers, retirees, and their 
     families now face the very real prospect of losing their 
     health benefits. This, I must remind you, was something that 
     you promised would not happen.

  Promise No. 3. The President indicated that the Affordable Care Act 
would ``lower costs for . . . the federal government, reducing our 
deficit by over $1 trillion in the next two decades. It is paid for. It 
is fiscally responsible.''
  The only way the Affordable Care Act will reduce deficits is by 
grossly increasing the taxes and fees associated with this law. One 
wonders how anyone believed at the time that the new entitlement 
program would ever save money.
  These broken promises are more than just words. The administration's 
false starts and early failures in implementing the Affordable Care Act 
are just the beginning. The harm this law will do to individuals, 
families, and businesses will continue to emerge. In less than 3 
months, individuals will be asked to start enrolling in a health 
insurance exchange when insurance rates, coverage requirements, and 
subsidy amounts are still largely unknown. And, increasingly, the 
question being asked is, What happens to individuals required to buy 
health insurance or face penalties if the exchanges are not ready on 
time?
  I am the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on 
Labor, Health and Human Services. I offered two amendments to the 
fiscal year 2014 bill that would bring some certainty to this 
overarching issue.
  First, I offered an amendment to codify the administration's decision 
to delay the employer mandate. While many of my colleagues on the 
Democratic side issued press releases praising the administration's 
decision to delay, when asked to affirmatively vote in committee to 
delay for 1 year, they all voted no. The amendment failed on a straight 
party-line vote.
  The second amendment I offered delayed the implementation and 
enforcement of the individual mandate for 1 year. While I support the 
delay of the employer mandate, in that decision, like it or not, the 
administration undermined its own credibility in stating that the 
Affordable Care Act would be implemented on time, as promised. We 
should not, and cannot, require individuals to risk their health care 
coverage by signing up for an unworkable program with a dubious future. 
Unfortunately, my colleagues--again, on the Democratic side--disagreed. 
They refused to extend the exemption the President granted to 
businesses to families and individuals--to all Americans.
  The evidence continues to show that the Affordable Care Act is so 
large and convoluted that it cannot be implemented into practice. 
Reports from State actuaries, the Congressional Budget Office, the 
Government Accountability Office, and nonpartisan think tanks have 
reached the same conclusion: Almost everything we were told about the 
Affordable Care Act is untrue.
  We were told 3 years ago that we need to pass the Affordable Care Act 
to find out what is in it. Now we know, and it is not good. We don't 
need to force American families to endure another 3 years just to see 
how bad it actually will be.
  I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________