[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7137-7138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last week Senators came to the floor to 
highlight the continuing broken promises of ObamaCare. We did so in the 
shadow of proposed double-digit ObamaCare premium increases in States 
across our country, everywhere from Tennessee, to Oregon, to New 
Hampshire.
  Americans have gotten further bad news since, including ObamaCare 
premium spikes that could reach as high as 83 percent in New Mexico. 
Each day seems to bring more and more troubling news, which could mean 
heartbreak for even more Americans. Take, for instance, some headlines 
from just last night:
  ``Most Arkansas insurers propose double-digit hikes for 2017.''
  ``Some rates in Georgia insurance exchange could soar in 2017''--and 
by ``soar,'' they are talking about as high as 65 percent.
  As one paper put it, there is ``no end in sight for higher Obamacare 
premiums.''
  These are not just abstract numbers; they can represent real pain for 
families already stretched to the limits under the ObamaCare economy. A 
recent survey showed that health care costs are now the top financial 
concern facing American families, ahead of concerns about low wages and 
even job loss. And what does the Democratic response too often seem to 
boil down to? They say: Just get over it. Get over it.
  Just the other day, the Democratic leader in the Senate said that 
Americans who, like us, disagree with the pain ObamaCare is causing 
need to just ``get over it and accept the fact that ObamaCare is here 
to stay.'' That is hardly the only callous comment we have heard from 
across the aisle on ObamaCare.
  I would ask Democratic colleagues to listen to the Americans who 
continue to share heartbreaking ObamaCare stories with us, like these 
Kentuckians:
  Should the Elizabethtown man who says he can't afford to see a doctor 
under his ObamaCare plan, despite the fact that he pays more for his 
premium than his house payment, just get over it?
  Should the dad from Owensboro who said he has seen his family's 
health costs increase by nearly 250 percent under ObamaCare just get 
over it? ``What happened to being rewarded for working hard in 
America?'' this dad asked. ``What happened to the American dream?'' 
Many Americans are wondering the same thing.

[[Page 7138]]

  ObamaCare continues to write a record of broken promises at the 
expense of the American people. Instead of lowering premiums by up to 
$2,500 for a typical family, as then-Senator Obama talked about on the 
campaign trail, ObamaCare has raised many families' rates. Instead of 
making health care costs more affordable for all, ObamaCare has led to 
unaffordable out-of-pocket costs for families all across our country.
  The bottom line is this: ObamaCare is too often hurting those it 
proposed to help. It is a direct attack on the middle class.
  The Republican-led Senate sent a bill to President Obama's desk to 
repeal this partisan law so we can replace it with policies that 
actually put the American people first because, let's remember, the 
American people do not need to get over ObamaCare's failures. Our 
Democratic colleagues need to finally join us in working to end those 
failures.

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