Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the rising prices of health care premiums.
Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
“More than seven years ago, Washington Democrats wrote an enormously costly and complicated health care law, and they forced it through the Senate.
“They promised that it would provide care for less money.
“They promised that you could keep your doctor –you could keep your insurance.
“They promised that if you just allowed Washington to have more control, then everything would be better for you.
“It hasn’t worked out that way.
“In Connecticut, insurance companies say they want an average increase of about 24 percent.
“In Maryland, the average is 45 percent.
“In Oregon –17 percent.
“Americans are facing – again – double-digit increases in their Obamacare premiums next year, just like last year.
“People living in two-thirds of the counties in this country – and in every county of my home state of Wyoming – are down to fewer and fewer choices.
“We have one choice of a carrier to buy from on the exchange in Wyoming.
“The companies that remain are cutting back access to doctors and to hospitals.
“People realize that it’s not a good deal for them. They know that Obamacare has made insurance so expensive that it’s just not good value for their hard-earned dollars.
“It’s astonishing, Democrats now say that Obamacare —basically the problem was that Washington didn’t have enough control.
“There are a number of Democrats who want a single-payer health care system.
“Some call it Medicare for all, call it what they want.
“It means higher costs, more Washington control over the health care that American families need.
“The state of Vermont looked at this idea a couple of years ago.
“Even in this very small, very liberal state, they dropped the idea almost immediately. Why? Because they said it was too expensive.
“It didn’t stop other states from looking at it.
“Most recently, the state of California is a place where this occurred.
“Democrats in California recently offered a plan to have the state take control of all health care for everyone who lives there. Universal health care for all they call it.
“Doctor’s visits, inpatient care, outpatient care, emergencies, dental, vision, mental health, nursing homes–everything, cradle to grave. Universal health coverage.
“The state of California, their budget office, did a budget analysis, said what would such a thing cost. They came up with a cost of $400 billion a year.
“So they said let’s compare it to the budget of the entire state of California. The entire budget for the state of California today is $190 billion dollars. The cost of universal health care alone is twice the budget of the whole state of California.
“So what do the Democrats say? Well, we’ll just have to raise taxes, that’s their answer to so much of everything.
“I guess they figure that hard-working families in California would need to pay these taxes every year. Because that price tag is $400 billion each and every year.
“Democrats have no good ideas on how to deal with this collapse of Obamacare.
“Republicans are offering real solutions. We’re looking for ways to bring costs down, to give people more freedom, to give people more control over their own health care.
“We’re looking for ways to bring down costs – and give people more freedom, and more control over their own health care.
“We’re working to make sure that people can get the care they need, from a doctor they choose, at lower costs. We don’t have that with Obamacare.
“The Democrats are pushing the exact opposite approach.
“They’re offering higher costs, higher taxes, more government control, more government say in your families’ life.
“Obamacare has failed. Republicans are committed to finding long-term solutions to our nation’s health care needs.”
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