[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8654]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, every week, it seems we hear more news 
about the failures of ObamaCare. For instance, 2 weeks ago, we learned 
that nearly 70,000 people in parts of Missouri and Kansas will lose 
their last insurance provider on the ObamaCare exchanges in 2018. From 
rural towns to Kansas City, these Americans are being left without 
options. Last week, we learned that thousands of ObamaCare customers in 
Nebraska will be left with only one provider on the exchanges and that 
the remaining insurer hasn't even decided if it is going to stay 
through 2018. This week, we learned that the number of health insurers 
participating in ObamaCare exchanges had declined by nearly one-quarter 
from 2016 to 2017.
  It has become painfully clear that ObamaCare is failing to live up to 
its promises and is collapsing right in front of our eyes. If this 
failed ObamaCare status quo continues, more Americans are likely to 
lose their insurance options, more Americans are likely to continue 
seeing their premiums rise, and more Americans are likely to get caught 
in the downward spiral of ObamaCare.
  It is time for our friends on the other side of the aisle to get 
serious about moving beyond the problems of this law. They spent years 
defending the system, promising it will get better over time and 
claiming others were exaggerating ObamaCare's flaws, but here is the 
reality our Democratic colleagues seem to be missing: ObamaCare did not 
get better. The problems are real and have continued to get worse.
  Now Democrats are trying to blame the failures of ObamaCare on 
anything but--anything but--the broken healthcare law itself. They can 
try to shift the blame, but the American people are not going to fall 
for it.
  Many Kentuckians have called for us to move away from ObamaCare to 
bring relief to families. An official report released last month showed 
that since ObamaCare's full enactment in 2013, average premiums in 
Kentucky have skyrocketed by 75 percent.
  A woman from Lancaster, KY, wrote to my office recently to express 
her frustration. With high premiums and a staggering deductible, she 
asked:

       Why is there a law forcing me to pay for something I can't 
     afford? Either I can eat and pay my mortgage, or pay for 
     insurance.

  Far too many Americans face these painful choices every day because 
of ObamaCare. As the system continues to collapse around us, this 
Kentuckian and many more like her are left to deal with the 
consequences.
  The ObamaCare status quo is unsustainable and unacceptable. Our 
country can do better, and our country really must do better. I hope 
Senate Democrats will join us as we move beyond the system's failures. 
They can either continue to defend this broken system with its higher 
costs and diminishing choices, or they can work with us to move beyond 
ObamaCare toward smarter healthcare solutions. What is clear is that we 
have to act. Otherwise, more Americans will be stuck paying the price 
of ObamaCare's continuing failures.

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