[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         RELIEF FROM OBAMACARE

  (Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my 
colleagues to support Congressman Adrian Smith of Nebraska's CO-OP 
Consumer Protection Act which we will vote on later today.
  This bill will temporarily exempt from the individual mandate penalty 
anyone who had a plan under one of the many failed ObamaCare co-ops; 17 
out of 23 co-ops have failed since early 2015.
  Community Health Alliance was one such ObamaCare co-op based in my 
district. When it failed last year, 27,000 Tennesseeans were forced to 
find new plans. This year, Tennesseeans have been faced with even more 
bad news. Earlier this year, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee 
requested an average 62 percent increase in premium rates. Then just 
yesterday, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee announced that they can no 
longer afford to offer any ObamaCare exchange plans in Knoxville, 
Nashville, and Memphis. This will affect over 100,000, including many 
of my constituents who will now have the option of only one health 
insurance provider.
  Congressman Smith of Nebraska's bill will provide at least some 
relief for people who have lost their health insurance because of 
ObamaCare. I urge my colleagues' support of this very important 
legislation.

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