[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18928-18929]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I wish to address ObamaCare repeal. As I 
was thinking about what I was going to say today, I went back and 
looked at a speech I made on the House of Representatives floor on 
March 21, 2010. The previous speaker talked about the partisanship that 
she perceives now. I thought it interesting. I am going to read just a 
couple quotes from my speech then: ``[We are thinking about] this bill 
as a blanket, a blanket of health care legislation that may be draped 
across America and its population in the coming years,'' which it has 
for the last 4 years. I talk about how ``its cloth has been cut behind 
closed doors and its color is tinged by partisan hands.'' That is the 
ObamaCare legislation and the ObamaCare plan we have today. ``The huge 
holes will not protect the cold winds of job loss, new taxes, 
government bureaucracy, and increased health care costs. . . . All of 
America will feel the weight of this uncomfortable burden.'' Those were 
my words on March 21, 2010, in the House of Representatives.
  Today and later this week, the Senate will consider a bill to repeal 
that bill, ObamaCare, a costly disaster that 4 years--5 years later we 
see has cost countless people access to their doctors, access to the 
health care plan of their choice, and thousands of West Virginians from 
my State have lost or had to change their coverage. We ought to ask the 
individuals and families whose premiums and deductibles have 
skyrocketed and the small businesses that have been forced to cut hours 
and employees.
  Let's consider the exchanges that are folding and the hospitals that 
are facing unmanageable costs. Even the Nation's largest health 
insurance provider has threatened to pull out of ObamaCare, citing high 
costs and growing risks. Just today, the CEO of that company said that 
joining ObamaCare was ``a bad decision.''
  There has to be a better way, and we need to find it.
  In the bill we are considering this week, the Senate will do two 
major things: It will repeal significant portions of the health care 
law that are not working. It will also provide a bridge to replace this 
law with an improved health care system. This ObamaCare repeal bill 
will eliminate enforcement of the individual and employer mandates. It 
will repeal $1 trillion--$1 trillion--in onerous taxes. It will save 
and strengthen Medicare. It will also dedicate resources to fight the 
growing drug epidemic that is sweeping across this country. Certainly 
in our State of West Virginia we have had many difficulties, as many of 
our fellow Americans have.
  ObamaCare has upended our health care system and has broken many of 
the President's own promises. Headline after headline in recent weeks 
has called attention to the increasing premiums Americans will face 
next year. Across the Nation, rates for one out of every three 
ObamaCare plans will double in the year 2016.
  For plans that are not seeing huge premium increases, rising 
deductibles are placing an excessive burden on patients--but not just 
on patients; let's think about our health care providers, our 
hospitals, for example. When a patient has a high deductible and comes 
in for an expensive surgery, that patient has to pay a $4,000 or $5,000 
deductible. That is unaffordable for a lot of people, and that hospital 
is stuck with that bill.
  The situation in my State is even worse. West Virginia is the only 
State in the country with only one insurer participating on the 
exchange. Remember, the President promised us choice and the ability to 
make decisions for ourselves. We have one choice in West Virginia. 
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield has been the only company in the West 
Virginia exchange through the first 2 years of ObamaCare, and we 
recently learned that it almost pulled out of the exchange for 2016. 
That would have been disastrous for our constituents. And why are they 
pulling out? Because they are losing millions of dollars on a health 
care plan that was promised to be a blanket, to blanket all of us, as I 
said in the speech I gave in 2010. It has turned out to be a blanket 
with huge holes.
  With only one provider, choices and accesses are already limited, but 
for many Americans, the exchanges set up under ObamaCare have become 
their only option. Because of increasing costs, many are now unable to 
afford the health insurance without subsidies.
  While Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield--the exchange insurance in West 
Virginia--did remain in West Virginia, premiums are set to increase 
this year or next year by 24 percent. These increases are well beyond 
the financial reach of most West Virginians. Our unemployment in West 
Virginia

[[Page 18929]]

has skyrocketed because of the President's energy policies, and now we 
are looking at hard-working West Virginians and telling them their 
health care that was supposed to be affordable and accessible is going 
up 24 percent. That is unconscionable.
  As one of my constituents pointed out, ``This represents a 
significant challenge to our family budget as my husband's pay has not 
increased at the rate that our health care costs continue to rise.''
  What about ObamaCare's promise to lower the cost of health care? The 
reality is really quite different.
  As another West Virginian put it, ``The law remains a failure by the 
administration's own metrics, and its harmful impact continues to make 
life more difficult for millions across the country.''
  By repealing ObamaCare, we can revisit the problems caused by the 
health care law and the problems that existed before, replace them with 
reforms that work, and protect those whose coverage has been disrupted.
  In order to ensure individuals do not lose access to current 
coverage, this ObamaCare repeal bill will provide a 2-year transition 
period. This period will give us time to enact alternative reforms that 
will provide access to quality, affordable care without disrupting 
coverage. Health care reform should give States and individuals 
choice--remember, in my State we don't have a choice; we have one 
provider, no choice--while reducing health care costs over the long 
term. Premiums are going up 24 percent, and deductibles are 
skyrocketing. That is not containing costs over the long term.
  Americans deserve a health care system that works for them, and we 
know ObamaCare is not it. There is a better way.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, am I correct that we are in morning 
business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.

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