Congressional Disapproval Of Rule Relating To Grandfathered Health Plan--Motion To Proceed

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. Thank you, Mr. President. As my colleagues know, I have come to the floor week after week after this bill was signed into law with a doctor's second opinion based on my nearly quarter of a century practice in Wyoming, taking care of families there. I go home every weekend and talk to people.

The people of Wyoming remember when the President of the United States spoke to a joint session of Congress and he told the American people about the plan that was later signed into law. During that speech the President said:

..... if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have.

Let me repeat:

Nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.

I think I heard the chairman of the Finance Committee say that if you like your plan, you can pretty much keep it. That is not what the President said. Pretty much keep it? With those words, the President--and congressional Democrats--made a vow to 170 million people who get health coverage through their employer. The President and congressional Democrats promised that if you like what you have, then the health care law would let you keep it. What a difference a year makes.

On June 14 of this year, the Obama administration released a 121-page ``grandfathered health plan'' rule. It is a rule that clearly violates--clearly violates--the President's promise.

Let me explain how. ObamaCare included a provision allowing existing insurance plans to be ``grandfathered'' under the new law. Theoretically, that means that employers and individuals would not have to give up the coverage they have and they like to comply with onerous government rules and mandates.

So you have to make sure, though, that you read the fine print. Look at the chart. The chart in the new administration rules estimates between 39 and 69 percent of businesses will lose their grandfathered health plan status.

The picture is even worse for small businesses in America, and it is small businesses that are the engines that drive this economy. The same chart in this report estimates that by the year 2013, up to 80 percent--80 percent--of small businesses will lose their grandfathered status. This means American businesses will not be able to keep their current insurance plans. That is what this means. They will be required by the Federal Government to comply with all the new mandates which are very expensive and are contained in the new health care law. This only serves to drive employer health care costs up, making it even more difficult for them to offer health insurance to their workers.

I am sorry. Maybe the American people are confused. The American people believed the goal of reform was to lower health care costs. America's small businesses struggle each and every day to find a way to provide health insurance to their employees. The government should be making it easier for businesses to keep providing the coverage. Instead, this bureaucratic regulation drives prices up. This is going to increase the odds that employers are going to simply choose to stop offering health care insurance coverage completely.

Additionally, this so-called grandfather regulation makes it much harder for employers to make health insurance changes that would actually help to keep down the cost of care, to keep down the cost of coverage. Today, businesses have very few options if they want to keep costs in check, as well as keep their grandfathered status. Businesses that lose their grandfathered status are then forced to comply with all the new rules, all the mandates in the health care law, and now, even by the White House's own admission, we are talking about up to 80 percent of the small businesses in this country.

Subjecting employers to these mandates forces them to change and to expand their insurance plans. What does that mean? Well, it means costs are going to go up. No surprise. It is obvious this administration doesn't want the American people to be able to keep what they have if they like it. The law wasn't written that way, and certainly the regulations were written in a way that violates--and this is the White House--the White House regulations were written in a way that violates the pledge the President made to the American people.

President Obama and congressional Democrats certainly like using their talking points, but the American people know it is just spin. That is why this bill was unpopular when it was signed into law and now, 6 months later, it is even more unpopular, with 61 percent of the American people wanting this bill and this law repealed and replaced.

That is why I come to the floor today to support the efforts of my friend, the senior Senator from Wyoming, the ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, who has introduced Senate Joint Resolution 39, a resolution of disapproval that would overturn the administration's so-called grandfather rule. It is an honor to stand with Senator Enzi and fight against this job-killing Washington mandate. I appreciate his leadership but, more importantly, his dedication to make sure the President keeps his promise--a promise that if you like the health insurance you had before the new health care law was passed, then you can actually keep it.

That is my second opinion. That is why we need to repeal and replace this health care law.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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