“No matter how bad it gets – no matter how unaffordable it is – President Obama and the Democrats in Congress absolutely refuse to face the reality.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor highlighting how many Americans on Obamacare will soon face double digit increases in the cost of their health premiums.
Excerpts of his remarks:
“This morning, Majority Leader McConnell spoke about the skyrocketing costs, the broken promises and the repeated failures of the president’s health care law.
“He pointed out specifically how so many Americans are facing double-digit premium increases because of Obamacare.
“In his home state of Kentucky, some people face proposed increases as high as 25 percent. He noted that some people in Indiana could be hit with a 46 percent jump in their premiums.
“So how did Democratic Leader Reid respond to the news of double-digit premium increases? He said that ‘people are extremely satisfied with health care.’
“He said that the people Majority Leader McConnell spoke about are having increases that are quote ‘very, very minimal.’
“I’d like to repeat that. The Democratic Leader, on the floor of the U.S. Senate today, called premium increases of 25 and 46 percent ‘very, very minimal.’
“What world is he living in?
“How on earth can Senate Democrats believe that Americans are satisfied with their health care when they are facing double-digit premium increases?
“How on earth can the Senate Democratic leader believe these increases are ‘very, very minimal?’ It’s shocking.
“The Democrats have their head in the sand about the health care law.
“You can pick Investor’s Business Daily, Monday, June 1st, ‘Obamacare deductibles soaring to $6,500 for the silver level plan.’
“Pick up the Wall Street Journal, Friday, May 22nd, ‘Health insurers seek big increase.’
“Investor’s Business Daily today, ‘Obamacare enrollment mystery, two million young adults missing.’ They are not signing up and there are plenty of good reasons why—and it’s not because it’s a good deal for them.
“No matter how bad it gets – no matter how unaffordable it is – President Obama and the Democrats in Congress absolutely refuse to face the reality.
“They refuse to help Americans who continue to be hurt by this law.
“And I’m going to talk a little bit about the reality of the law – and why Republicans are committed to helping all Americans finally have access to affordable care.
“Because we all remember when President Obama promised that his health care law would cause insurance premiums to go down by an average of $2,500 per year, per family.
“So where do we stand now?
“A couple of weeks ago was the deadline for insurance companies to say what they intended to charge people for health care next year.
“This is the first time that companies have been able to set their prices based on a full year of information about how much Obamacare actually costs.
“From what we’ve seen so far, the cost is enormous – a lot of Americans are going to be shocked by how much more their health insurance will be.
“These higher premiums are just the latest evidence that Obamacare is an expensive failure.
“We’ve seen reports about the largest insurance company in New Mexico saying that it wants to raise rates by almost 52 percent next year.
“The biggest insurer in Tennessee wants to raise its rates 36 percent.
“In Maryland, the largest insurer is planning to increase premiums by more than 30 percent.
“But yet we hear Senator Reid on the floor of the Senate this morning saying like these things don’t matter.
“People who in the president’s home state of Illinois right now are facing an average premium increase of more than 30 percent.
“It seems like there is another headline every day about how expensive health insurance is becoming.
“Wall Street Journal Tuesday: ‘Insurers Seek Big Premium Increases.’ I know that there are some supporters of the law like to say that millions of people have insurance under Obamacare.
“Well, how many of them are going to be paying these double-digit rate increases next year because of Obamacare?
“That’s what Americans want to know.
“On Monday, the Obama administration released information on rate hikes for people living in about 41 states.
“It turns out that there are 676 different insurance plans, different Obamacare insurance plans, offered for sale in these 41 states, plan to raise their rates by double digits.
“The average increase is 21 percent.
“About six million people getting their insurance in these plans will face double-digit rate increases next year.
“Do Democrats who voted for Obamacare think a 21 percent rate increase is affordable? Do they think a double-digit premium increase will help these six million hard-working Americans?
“The numbers are so large, it’s hard to even understand what they mean for a typical person.
“Because what does it mean for health insurance policies in Maryland where they might have an average rate increase of 30 percent? How does that impact someone’s life, their quality of life?
“Well, let’s say you’re a 40-year old, non-smoker, living in Annapolis, Maryland—you buy a silver plan from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.
“That’s the biggest insurer in the Maryland, it’s the most popular kind of plan. According to the Wall Street Journal study, your rates would go from about $2,900 for the year to nearly $3,700 next year.
“That’s an $800 a year increase. The president promised it would be down $2,500, now it’s going up $800. That’s how expensive Obamacare has become.
“It’s far more costly than people thought it was going to be, than the insurers thought it was going to cost – far more costly than the American people were told it was going to be.
“Now, I’ve heard some Democrats who support this law say that these are just the requested rates.
“They say that we shouldn’t worry – because state insurance agencies won’t allow the huge rate increases to take effect.
“Well, CareFirst – the company in Maryland that wants a 30 percent rate increase next year – they raised their rates 16 percent last year.
“Hard-working people across the country are going to have to pay these enormous premiums because the president mandates they buy it – and many of them still won’t be able to actually use their insurance, because the deductibles and the co-pays are so high.
“This year, the average deductible for an Obamacare silver plan is almost $3,000 a person, more than $6,000 a family.
“You have to ask: Why are costs going up so much, so fast?
“That’s what a radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, asked, KCUR – FM. They reported last week, on May 27, that premiums for some plans in Kansas are going to go up as much as 38 percent.
“According to this radio station, the increase ‘appear to be driven by requirements in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.’
“So the Kansas state insurance department said it was because of things like all of the mandates, the coverage mandates in the law.
“Families are now paying for coverage that’s more than they need, more than they want, more than they can afford.
“A spokesman for the state insurance agency in Kansas told the radio station KCUR, ‘These things cost money.’
“So what do people think about these enormous increases in their premiums?
“Are people happy about all of the extra money that they have to pay because of Obamacare?
“Well let’s look at Connecticut. In Connecticut, people have been writing to the state insurance department and they’re angry and they’re frustrated about the Obamacare price hikes.
“Now the interesting thing is, one person wrote: ‘I find it outrageous that the rates for 2016 are going to increase by 6.7 percent—which was a request in Connecticut. The person goes on, ‘where do you think that I am going to get that money? I do not get a raise every year based on your ‘every year’ rate increase.’
“This is someone who is having a hard time with a rate increase of only 6.7 percent. Imagine how tough it’s going to be for families all around the country who have to pay 20, or 30, or 40 percent more next year for their Obamacare mandated insurance.
“Thousands of families across the country are facing these shocking rate increases—and it might be just the beginning.
“Sometime this month, the Supreme Court’s expected to decide an important case, called King versus Burwell.
“This case is about the subsidies that some people get to help pay Obamacare’s alarmingly high costs.
“The health care law said that Washington could subsidize the premiums of people who buy insurance through exchanges established by the states.
“President Obama knew that, that wouldn’t be enough – because he knew that his law was going to make insurance premiums skyrocket.
“So he told his administration to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize insurance in the federal exchange as well.
“Democrats in Congress wrote the law to allow subsidies for one group, and then the president then decided to pay them out for another group.
“So if the Supreme Court decides that the president overstepped his authority, there are going to be a lot of people facing, paying the full cost of their Obamacare plans without the subsidy.
“They’re going to see just how expensive this Obamacare insurance is – and just how destructive the Democrats’ health care law has been.
“Let’s face it, despite what the Minority Leader says on the floor of the Senate, Obamacare has been a disaster.
“It’s bad for patients, it’s bad for providers, and it has been terrible for the American taxpayers—hardworking Americans, working every day to try to put food on the table and pay their taxes as well.
“Republicans are offering better solutions – real solutions that will end these outrageous and expensive Obamacare side effects.
“That means giving Americans freedom, choice, and control over their health care decisions. Republicans understand that hard-working American families can’t afford Obamacare any longer.
“Democrats need to admit that their health care law has been and continues to be an expensive failure.
“If they are ready to do that, then Republicans will work with them to help give people the care they need, from a doctor they choose, at lower costs.”
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