[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9658-9659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 7 years ago, Democrats imposed 
ObamaCare on our country. They said it would lower costs. It didn't. 
From 2013 to 2017, premiums have on average doubled in the vast 
majority of States on the Federal exchange. Next year, ObamaCare 
premiums will go up across the country once again, potentially by as 
much as 43 percent in Iowa, 59 percent in Maryland, and even a 
staggering 80 percent in New Mexico. Does it sound as if ObamaCare is 
working?
  They said it would increase choice. They said it would increase 
choice, but of course it didn't. This year, 70 percent of American 
counties have had little or no choice of insurers under ObamaCare. Next 
year, at least 44 counties are projected to have no choice at all, 
meaning, yet again, Americans could be thrown off their plans in States 
like Missouri and Ohio and Wisconsin. Does this sound as if ObamaCare 
is working?
  Now Democrats tell us it would be wrong for the Senate to actually 
address these problems in a serious way while the law they have 
defended for 7 years teeters, literally teeters on the edge of total 
collapse. They were wrong before; they are wrong again now because 
ObamaCare isn't working. By nearly any measure it has failed, and no 
amount of eleventh-hour reality denying or buck-passing by Democrats is 
going to change the fact that more Americans are going to get hurt 
unless we do something.
  I regret that our Democratic friends made clear early on that they 
did not want to work with us in a serious bipartisan way to address the 
ObamaCare status quo, but Republicans believe we have a responsibility 
to act, and we are--for our constituents, for our States, and for our 
country.
  We have long called for a better way forward, and we have been 
engaged in intensive talks on how to get there. Through dozens of 
meetings, open to each and every member of the conference, we have had 
the opportunity to offer and consider many ideas for confronting the 
ObamaCare status quo.
  We have debated many policy proposals, and we have considered many 
different viewpoints. In the end, we have found that we share many 
ideas about what needs to be achieved and how we can achieve it. These 
shared policy objectives and the solutions to help achieve them are 
what made up the healthcare discussion draft that we finished talking 
through this morning.
  We agree on the need to free Americans from ObamaCare's mandates, and 
policies contained in the discussion draft will repeal the individual 
mandate, so Americans are no longer forced to buy insurance they don't 
need or can't afford. We are repealing employer mandates, so Americans 
no longer see their hours and take-home pay cut by employers because of 
it. We agree on the need to improve the affordability of health 
insurance, and policies contained in the discussion draft will do that. 
It will eliminate costly ObamaCare taxes that are passed on to 
consumers, so we can put downward pressure on premiums; expand tax-free 
health savings accounts and deploy targeted tax credits, so we can help 
defray out-of-pocket costs; and shift power from Washington to the 
States, so they have more flexibility to provide more Americans with 
the kind of affordable insurance options they actually want.
  We agree on the need to stabilize the insurance markets that are 
collapsing under ObamaCare as well, and policies contained in the 
discussion draft will implement stabilization policies, so we can bring 
financial certainty to insurance markets and hope to Americans who face 
the possibility of limited or zero options next year under ObamaCare 
and ultimately transition away from ObamaCare's collapsing system 
entirely, so more Americans will not be hurt.
  We also agree on the need to strengthen Medicaid, preserve access to 
care for patients with preexisting conditions, and allow children to 
stay on their parents' health insurance through the age of 26.
  I am pleased we were able to arrive at a draft that incorporates 
input from so many different Members, who represent so many different 
constituents who are facing so many different challenges.
  The draft containing the solutions I mentioned, along with many 
others, is posted online, and I encourage everyone to carefully review 
it. There will be ample time to analyze, discuss, and provide thoughts 
before legislation comes to the floor. I hope every Senator takes that 
opportunity.
  Next week we expect the Congressional Budget Office to release a 
score. After that, we will proceed with a robust debate and an open 
amendment process on the Senate floor--a process I would encourage each 
of our 100 Senators to participate in.
  When legislation does come to the floor, it will present Senate 
Democrats with another opportunity to do what is right for the American 
people. They can choose to keep standing by as their

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failing law continues to collapse and hurt more Americans, but I hope 
they will join us, instead, to bring relief to the families who have 
struggled under ObamaCare for far too long. Either way--either way, it 
is time to act because ObamaCare is a direct attack on the middle 
class, and American families deserve better than its failing status 
quo. They deserve better care, and that is just what we are going to 
continue to work to bring.

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