“President Obama promised that people would pay less under the health care law. Instead, people all across the country are getting stuck with surprise bills because of these narrow networks.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor highlighting the broken promises and rising costs of President Obama’s health care law.

Excerpts of his remarks:

“Last week, President Obama spoke at a meeting of the Catholic Health Association. And he told the association that his health care law, as he said, ‘worked out better than some of us anticipated.’

“Well, I can tell you, the president’s health care law has worked out much worse, much worse than the American people expected.

“It has worked out much worse than the president promised, much worse than the president promised it was going to work.

“Hardworking families all across the country are suffering under the president’s complicated, confusing and costly health care law.

“The new Senator from Michigan just gave his maiden speech this morning, and I welcome him to the Senate.

“The senior Senator from Michigan just spoke on the floor. Last week, she also talked on the floor about the millions of Americans who need subsidies to help cover the cost of these outrageously expensive Obamacare mandates.

“Well, for many people in her home state of Michigan, Obamacare hurts Michigan. This insurance is going to get a lot more expensive for the people of Michigan next year.

“The Obama Administration released new numbers recently showing how much more people are going to have to pay for their Obamacare plans next year.

“There’s one company in Michigan that’s requested a rate increase of 38 percent. There are more than 20,000 people in Michigan who get their Obamacare insurance from this company today.

“These people are looking at the prospect of their insurance costing 38 percent more next year.

“Other families in Michigan are facing rate hikes of 11 percent, or 17 percent, or 37 percent, depending on the specific plan they’re in.

“And it’s not just happening in Michigan.

“In Washington state, one company says that its premiums next year will be 19 percent higher.

“Now, there are more than 7,000 people in Washington state who get their insurance from that company plan. Another company says it’s raising its rates 9.6 percent.

“People in Washington are facing much higher insurance premiums, and they will still have the narrow networks that so many Americans have to deal with because of Obamacare.

“When I say narrow network, I mean fewer choices of hospitals, fewer choices of doctors to take care of them – limiting their choices, plus paying more.

“So how big of a problem is it?

“The Wall Street Journal had an article about these people the other day. This was Friday, June 12. The headline is ‘Surprises in health law bills.’

“Consumers say that out-of- out-of-network charges often aren’t flagged beforehand. They call it medical bill shock.

“This is under the president’s health care law; medical bill shock, surprises in health law bills.

“And it tells the story of Angela Giboney for Mill Creek, Washington, Washington state. She has insurance through the state Obamacare exchange; she has Obamacare. Make no question about it. When she went to have a mammogram, it turned out that the place that did the screening was outside her network, so she got a bill for $932.

“President Obama promised that people would pay less under the health care law. Instead, people all across the country are getting stuck with surprise bills because of these narrow networks.

“And in spite of it their premiums are going to jump again next year.

“Now, there are some Democrats who say that people shouldn’t worry about these dramatic premium increases because they say the average increase – this is the Democrats – the average increase, they say, in some places, won’t be that high.

“Well, there’s a new study that looked at the rate request in eight different states for next year.

“It says that in those eight states, premiums for the silver plan in the Obamacare exchange will only go up by, on average, 6 percent.

“The study says in Connecticut the average silver plan is only going to raise premiums 4 percent.

“It says if you shop around, if you shop around, you might be able, might be able to find a new plan next year that will go up by less than your current plan is going up.

“So, they’re saying across the board they’re going up. The question is how much are they going up.

“And if you shop around, you might find a place that they’re not going up quite as much as they are with your current plan.

“Is that what president Obama promised the American people? Did he promise that the American people that the rates would only go up 6 percent?

“No. That’s not what he promised. He said rates would go down by $2,500 per family per year.

“Did president Obama say that your rates will go up a little less if you’re willing to change plans every year?

“No. He said if you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance. That’s what the president said.

“Did the president promise that maybe your rates won’t go up by quite as much if you’re willing to accept a narrow network of providers? Did he say you should change your doctor every year by switching plan to plan?

“No, of course, not. He said if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.

“I want to make another point, Mr. President, about this new study.

“It’s only talking about the average increases across all the plans offered in eight states.

“Even if the average premium is only going up 6 percent in those eight states, a lot of people are going to end up paying much, much more.

“There are families in Connecticut who may have to pay 16 percent more next year. That’s how much more one company in Connecticut wants to charge almost 26,000 people who buy the Obamacare plans today.

“Does the president think that these families are happy that the average increase is only 14 — is only 4 percent when they get an increase of 16 percent?

“Is that what the president means when he says that his health care law is working better than he anticipated?

“And he said it just last week.

“Because there are a lot of people in Connecticut who say it’s not working and it’s working much worse than they anticipated.

“People have been writing to the state insurance department in Connecticut and they’re angry. They’re angry and alarmed at the president about Obamacare price hikes.

“One person wrote their company is requesting a rate increase of 14.3 percent in Connecticut.

“Democrats say the average may be only 4 percent. Some people will be paying over 14 percent more next year.

“The person asks, does the average worker get a 14 percent salary increase?

“That’s not what the people of Michigan, or Washington, or Connecticut, or anywhere else thought they were going to get when Democrats called the law the Affordable Care Act.

“Some time in the next couple of weeks, the Supreme Court is going to decide whether it’s legal or not for President Obama to spend some of the billions of taxpayer dollars that he’s been spending on the health care law.

“Now, the decision could affect more than six million Americans.

“Republicans have been watching this case very closely. We’ve been working on ideas to protect these people and to protect all Americans from the damages caused by the president’s health care law.

“If the court rules against the president, then Republicans will be ready to sit down with Democrats to improve health care in America.

“We will take the opportunity to protect the people from Obamacare’s broken promises and to provide freedom to the people who are trapped in Washington-mandated health care.

It will be up to the president and Democrats in Congress on whether they want to join us, or if they want to continue to insist that this law is working better than they anticipated.

“I hope they’ll work with us, work with us on reforms that the American people need, want and deserve.”

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