[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9389]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on another matter, what has happened 
in the years since ObamaCare was imposed on our country? Year after 
year, it drove up costs. Year after year, it drove down choice. Year 
after year, it continues to literally unravel right before our eyes. It 
is a trend that continues today, one that will only get worse unless we 
act.
  Just last week we got more evidence of ObamaCare's failures as the 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released reports that 
identified a trend of Americans who had enrolled in the ObamaCare 
exchanges but then canceled their coverage. Often these Americans 
didn't even pay their first premium. Within just a couple of months of 
enrolling, nearly 2 million people literally dropped out of ObamaCare.
  Why did so many Americans drop their coverage? The reasons shouldn't 
surprise anyone. The most common explanation these Americans gave for 
having canceled their coverage was ObamaCare's outrageous costs. These 
numbers underline what Republicans have been saying all along. 
ObamaCare is collapsing around us, and the American people are 
desperately searching for relief. Costs continue to shoot upward, and 
insurance providers are fleeing from the marketplaces across the 
country, leaving precious few options.
  It is clear that ObamaCare just isn't working. In fact, it is not 
working for millions of Americans, like those living in nearly 1,400 
counties--about 50 percent of all counties nationwide--who would have 
zero or just one insurance option on the exchanges next year. Of 
course, one option isn't really an option at all.
  These shrinking choices and increased costs under ObamaCare are not 
an indication of a new pattern; they are just the latest in what has 
been a years-long assault on far too many families by this failed 
healthcare law. While this isn't a new trend, it is one that has grown 
increasingly more unsustainable and one that we must work to change 
very soon. That is why we have repeatedly called for a different 
approach to healthcare. That is why we are working hard to move in a 
different direction on healthcare today.
  For months now, the entire Senate Republican conference has been 
active and engaged on legislation to move beyond the failures of 
ObamaCare and bring relief to the American people. We have had numerous 
productive discussions on the way forward. We believe we can and must 
do better than ObamaCare's status quo.
  Working together and listening to our constituents, we are focused on 
the following: stabilizing insurance markets which are collapsing under 
ObamaCare; freeing Americans from ObamaCare's mandates, which force 
them to buy insurance they don't want; improving the affordability of 
health insurance, which is spiking under ObamaCare; strengthening 
Medicaid for those who need it most; and preserving access to care for 
patients with preexisting conditions.
  Senate Republicans will continue working because it is clear that we 
cannot allow Americans' healthcare to continue on its current downward 
trajectory, taking so many families right along with it.
  The ObamaCare status quo is simply unsustainable. The American people 
deserve relief, and we will keep working to provide it.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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