[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6463-6464]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Now, on one final matter, Mr. President, that our 
colleagues will discuss further a little later today, a video recently 
surfaced that should concern all of us. It was three of President 
Obama's former speechwriters laughing it up. They were reminiscing 
about the time they apparently helped mislead the American people with 
a line that would one day become PolitiFact's ``Lie of the Year'': ``If 
you like your health care plan, you can keep it.''
  They laughed and laughed. It was, evidently, pretty funny to them. It 
is no laughing matter, however, for the millions--millions--who have 
lost their plans. It is no laughing matter for the millions who 
continue to suffer under this partisan law, this partisan attack on the 
middle class.
  Health care costs are now the No. 1 financial concern facing American 
families, according to a recent survey--No. 1--more than concerns about 
low wages, more even than concerns about losing a job.
  Another survey found a clear majority of Americans disapproving of 
this partisan law. Yet another survey found that, of Americans who said 
Obamacare had impacted them, more reported it hurting rather than 
helping them.
  If recent headlines are anything to go by, it is no wonder. Americans 
now face premium hikes of up to 30 percent in Oregon and 37 percent in 
Virginia. They face premium spikes as high as 43 percent in Iowa and 45 
percent in New Hampshire. In Tennessee, the State's largest health 
insurer is planning additional rate hikes that are even higher than the 
36.3 percent implemented just this past January.
  Remember, this is the same law whose champions promised it would make 
health care more affordable for American families. But nearly half of 
all Americans reported increases in their insurance premiums, and more 
than a third reported increases in copays and deductibles in the past 2 
years.
  Consider this dad from Jackson, KY, who learned that his insurer 
would no longer offer his current plan as a result of ObamaCare. He 
said that the most inexpensive replacement plan would be an 80-percent 
increase over his current monthly premium. ``This ill-conceived health 
care reform,'' as he put it, ``is going to be the end of good-quality 
care for the whole nation unless it is repealed and replaced.'' That is 
from Jackson, KY.
  Part of the reason insurers are seeking such dramatic premium rate 
increases is to help cover the losses they have experienced as a result 
of the unworkable policies of ObamaCare. Some are pulling out of the 
exchanges altogether. Several States and hundreds of counties now only 
have a single insurer to pick from in the ObamaCare exchanges--just 
one, no choices.
  That is true in parts of Kentucky, too, and it is terrible for 
consumers. What if these sole insurers pull out of the exchanges? An 
administration official couldn't rule out that possibility, and it 
doesn't appear they have a serious plan to deal with it either. The 
administration hardly ever seems to have an ObamaCare answer that 
doesn't boil down to this: more money from taxpayers.

[[Page 6464]]

  Look, this is not a law that is working. This is not a law that is 
fair. This is a partisan law that is a direct attack--a direct attack--
on the middle class.
  The Democratic leader recently said that Americans just need to ``get 
over it''--just get over it--``and accept the fact that ObamaCare is 
here to stay.'' ObamaCare, he says, is ``doing so much to change 
America forever.'' Maybe Democrats think the middle class should just 
get over double-digit premium increases. Maybe Democrats think it is 
funny that millions of Americans lost their plans because of ObamaCare.
  Republicans think we should work toward better care instead. That is 
why we recently passed a bill to repeal ObamaCare and start over with 
real care. ObamaCare may be changing America, but this partisan law's 
attacks on the middle class do not have to go on forever, as the 
Democratic leader would like. We can give our country a new and better 
beginning.

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