Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, you just heard my colleague from Missouri talk about many of the things that could be used to replace ObamaCare. There were a lot of ideas that make sense when it comes to health care in this country, that put patients and consumers more in charge of their health care decisions, and that create more competition and allow market forces out there to work to drive health care prices down, which is the exact opposite of what we have with ObamaCare.

For those who suggest there aren't other ideas out there, you just heard the Senator from Missouri go through a quite lengthy list of ideas that could be incorporated into a replacement for what has been a disastrous piece of legislation for the American people. The reason for that is because after 5 years now, one thing has become abundantly clear; that is, ObamaCare just isn't working. It flat isn't working. It is not lowering premiums, it is not reducing health care costs, and it is not protecting access to doctors or hospitals.

Instead, Americans are paying more for their premiums. The average cost of a family health care plan has risen to $17,545 a year up from $13,770 in 2010. That is nearly $4,000 a year in additional costs that the typical family in this country is having to contend with.

In addition to paying higher premiums, Americans with job-based insurance are also facing increased deductibles. The situation is also bad on the ObamaCare exchanges. Premiums on the exchanges will rise once again this year, with many Americans facing rate increases in the double digits.

Then there are the tax increases Americans are facing as a result of the law. While the Obama administration did its best to hide the true costs of the law, the truth is ObamaCare implements almost a dozen new taxes to the tune of $1 trillion. American families are going to face an average of $20,000 more in taxes over the next 10 years thanks to ObamaCare.

Now, I could go on. I could talk about the failing co-ops, the failed exchanges, the taxpayer dollars the law has wasted and much, much more. But today I would like to take just a few minutes to talk about the people behind those statistics--the individual Americans who are struggling under the tremendous burden ObamaCare has imposed. Over the past 5 years I have received numerous letters from constituents sharing the pain ObamaCare has caused them. I want to highlight just a few of the most recent.

I had a constituent of mine from Hill City, SD, write to tell me:

My premium is going from $624.16 a month to $1,054.42 per month, an increase of 68.93 percent. My wife's premium is going from $655.70 to $1,083.41 per month, an increase of 65.23 percent. I was under the assumption that the new Affordable Health Care Act was to be just that, affordable. How can a yearly bill of $25,653.96 be affordable to a retired couple?

That is from a constituent in Hill City, SD. Another constituent in Aberdeen, SD, wrote to share a similar story:

We just received our rate increase for our family health insurance. We have been paying $1,283.81 a month and the $557.45 increase will bring it up to $1,841.26. This amount has gone from 26 percent to 37 percent of our income. ..... After having insurance coverage for the past 38 years, we are faced with dropping coverage, which is ironic since that is not the purpose of the Affordable Care Act. We are considering dropping insurance and facing the penalty just so we can continue to live in our house, pay the bills, and buy groceries.

Another constituent from Redfield, SD, wrote to tell me:

My current monthly premium is $863.12. The monthly change in my premium is $470.67, making my monthly premium a hefty sum of $1,333.79. I think this is outrageous.

Again, this is from a constituent in Redfield, SD. She continues to say:

I know I am not the only one facing such enormous premium increases. My son, who is married and has two small children, received notice that his monthly premium will increase $495, making his monthly premium $1,571.

Well, unfortunately, she and her son are far from the only ones to face such enormous premium increases. A constituent in Sioux Falls, SD, is facing a 50-percent premium increase. The premium of a Deadwood constituent is increasing by 47 percent. A constituent in Milbank is facing a 62-percent premium increase. As I mentioned above, a constituent in Hill City is facing an increase of almost 69 percent.

More than one constituent has written to tell me that his health insurance costs more than his mortgage payment--more than a mortgage payment. One constituent told me she and her husband would have to pay 60 percent of their income to insure themselves and their four children--60 percent of their income. Think about that. If any more evidence was needed to demonstrate ObamaCare has failed, that should be sufficient.

The Affordable Care Act may have been a well-intentioned law, but it has failed to achieve its objective. Not only has it failed to make health care more affordable, but it has actually driven up health care prices to unthinkable levels for far too many Americans. South Dakota families cannot afford 50-percent premium increases or health insurance payments that are double their mortgage payments. No family can afford that--no family anyplace in the country.

It is time for Democrats to stop defending this broken law and to work with Republicans to repeal it and to begin building a bridge to real health care reform for hard-working families across the country. The legislation before us today would do just that. It would give us that opportunity to move away from a health care plan that has failed, that has led to higher premiums and higher deductibles and higher copays and higher out-of-pocket costs and constructed networks where you can't get access to the same providers you perhaps could in the past. So the whole idea that if you like your health care, you can keep it is just not reflected in reality for most Americans.

The promises that were made have been broken. This health care law is a failed law. We can do much better by the American people, if we have that opportunity, but it starts with repealing this bad law and starting over and putting in place a health care system for this country that creates more affordable, more accessible health care for more Americans. I hope our colleagues here in the Senate will join together on both sides of the aisle and repeal this bad law.

I yield the floor.

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