Republicans Have Delivered in 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. KENNEDY of Utah. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Utah for yielding and leading this important discussion on how Republicans are focusing on making healthcare more affordable for hardworking American families. We have taken action and are committed to doing more to fix the broken system of ObamaCare that empowered Big Insurance at the expense of our taxpayers.
As a family practice doctor for over 25 years, I hear directly from my patients about the skyrocketing cost of insurance and prescription drugs. Democrats promised Americans lower costs, more choices, and better care. More than a decade later, too many families are asking a simple question: What happened?
Former President Obama, in pushing the ACA, promised that the bill would lower healthcare premiums by up to $2,500 per family per year, but since ObamaCare went into effect, premiums have nearly tripled and deductibles have more than doubled. The cost of coverage for a family of four has increased by more than $10,000.
Back in July of this year, this Republican Congress passed the Working Families Tax Cut Act. This important legislation puts more money back into the pockets of Americans and will help lower the cost of healthcare as well as childcare.
Thanks to the Working Families Tax Cut Act, all Bronze and Catastrophic ACA Marketplace plans are now considered high-deductible plans, allowing more people to contribute to health savings accounts.
Health savings accounts can now be used to pay for direct primary care arrangements that cut out the middleman and allow patients to coordinate care directly with their chosen provider.
High costs are not the only ObamaCare failure. It also resulted in a major increase in fraud. A 2024 GAO investigation found that fake identities were approved for ObamaCare subsidies at a 100 percent rate, often remaining enrolled despite missing or falsified information.
In 2023, $21 billion in subsidies were paid out with no evidence of tax reconciliation. Taxpayers were left footing the bill, as reused Social Security numbers, subsidies paid on behalf of deceased individuals, and billions in unreconciled payments expose a system unable to protect public funds.
In the Working Families Tax Cut Act, Republicans restored accountability and fairness to the healthcare marketplace through reforms that save taxpayers billions of dollars and drive down costs for everyone. There is full income and eligibility verification before subsidies are issued, ensuring assistance goes only to those who qualify. We have ended ``anytime'' enrollment abuse that fueled fraudulent signups and drove premiums higher for everyone. We closed loopholes that allowed illegal immigrants and other ineligible groups to access taxpayer-funded health benefits.
Many Americans have insurance on paper but still cannot afford to use it. I am committed, along with my Republican colleagues, to addressing the root cause of rising costs to provide real relief for taxpayers and families. I appreciate my congressional colleague from Utah for yielding to me.
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