Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, first, I wish to congratulate and thank my colleague, the senior Senator from Utah, Mr. Hatch, for his continued leadership on the issue of health care. As the ranking member of the Finance Committee, he has been a stalwart and strong supporter in efforts to get for the American people the health care they need, from the doctor they want, at a price they can afford, and amazing in his fight against what this body, what the House of Representatives, and what the President have forced onto people all across this country, which, to me, has been bad for patients, bad for the providers of those patients--the nurses and doctors who take care of them--and terrible for taxpayers.

That is why week after week I come to the floor to give a doctor's second opinion about the health care law, and why I am so pleased to be here with my colleague today to join in the introduction of this piece of legislation.

As people all around the country know--those who listened to the many speeches given during the debate on health care--the President and Democrats in Washington promised the American people this trillion dollar health care spending law would lower health insurance premiums. That is what the President promised, that health insurance premium costs would go down. Well, the American people have now had 19 months to review what is in the health care law, and they are finding that the President and the Washington Democrats sold them a bill of goods.

On September 27 of this year, the Kaiser Family Foundation issued its annual survey of employer-sponsored health insurance premiums. The report showed that employer-provided health insurance premiums rose--went up, not down--$1,303 for an average family last year alone. Remember--and we do--that the President repeatedly promised his health care law would reduce the average annual family premium by $2,500. Yet the exact opposite of what the President promised has occurred. The Kaiser Family Foundation report shows significant premium increases, not savings as the President promised.

Not only are premiums continuing to climb, but the President and Washington Democrats paid for their health care spending law by imposing billions of dollars in new taxes on American business and American consumers. Independent experts agree these taxes only serve to increase an individual, a family, or a small business's cost to buy medical coverage. Specifically, section 9010 of the health care law creates a new $60-plus billion tax on health insurance plans starting in 2014.

The health care law slaps this tax on all health insurance companies based on net premiums in what is called the fully insured market. This means the tax an insurance company must pay is equal to the percent of their market share. The larger the insurance company's market share, the higher their annual health insurance tax becomes. The aggregate tax in 2014 is $8 billion and climbs to $11.3 billion in 2015 and 2016, eventually reaching over $14 billion in 2018. After that, the law mandates the health insurance tax grow by premium inflation. More inflation, higher taxes.

Former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin released a study in March of this year
estimating the health insurance tax could exceed $87 billion between 2014 and 2020. Some on the other side of the aisle want to message this tax as a ``health insurance fee.'' I would say to my friends all across this country, Do not be fooled. This new tax directly hits small business.

The Joint Committee on Taxation makes it clear the insurance tax will be borne by consumers in the form of higher prices, by owners of firms in the form of lower profits, by employees of those firms in the form of lower wages, or by other suppliers to the firms in the form of lower payments.

Remember, this tax only hits health insurance companies that sell their products in the fully insured market. As we have learned, and heard earlier on the Senate floor, 87 percent of small businesses buy their health insurance in this fully insured market.

The fully insured market is also the place that uninsured individuals and the self-employed go when they need to purchase medical insurance. Insurance companies selling plans to individuals and small businesses are the ones that are hit with the tax. The new tax doesn't hit large, self-insured businesses. Ultimately, uninsured individuals, small businesses, and their employees are the ones who are going to end up paying this unfair tax. This new punitive tax will add hundreds of dollars to family and small business insurance premiums every year.

The Wyoming Blue Cross Blue Shield Association tells me that a Wyoming family of four will see a premium increase because of this tax of over $300 in 2014. In 2018, that same Wyoming family of four will see over a $500 premium increase as a result of the tax. These premium increases will have been passed through to consumers as a direct result of this health care law's tax component--what the President and the Democrats in this body have foisted on the American public.

Additionally, the Holtz-Eakin March 2011 study proves the health insurance tax will raise premiums by as much as 3 percent or nearly $5,000 for a family of four over the next decade. What American family, I ask you, can afford to see their take-home pay reduced by $5,000 over the next decade thanks to the President's new tax. The Nation's unemployment rate stands at 9 percent. There are 14 million Americans, people across our country, unemployed and looking for work. Struggling American families cannot bear the brunt of President's Obama's new tax.

A recent study by the National Federation of Independent Business found this health insurance tax will force the private sector to shed somewhere between 125,000 and 249,000 jobs between now and 2021. More than half of those losses will fall on the backs of small businesses.

Two million small businesses across this country cannot afford President Obama's new tax. Twenty-six million workers, who get their insurance through their employer, cannot afford President Obama's new tax. And the 12 million people who buy health insurance plans on their own in the individual market cannot afford President Obama's new tax. That is why today we introduce legislation called the Jobs and Premium Protection Act.

I introduced this bill along with my friend, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Hatch. Our legislation is simple and straightforward. It eliminates the health care law's punitive tax on every individual, family, and small business that chooses to do the right thing and buy health insurance. Unbelievably, the health care law punishes individuals and punishes small businesses, the very two groups who find buying health insurance at an affordable price extremely challenging. Why would the Federal Government implement policies that make it harder by imposing a tax on the products these individuals buy?

Some must believe that insurers will simply be able to absorb the tax. Well, experts tell us that assumption is false. Here is what the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation said in a letter to Senator JOHN KYL in June of this year:

We expect a very large portion of the insurance industry fee to be passed forward to purchasers of insurance in the form of higher premiums.

A very large portion, they say. Then they go on to say:

Eliminating this fee would decrease the average family premium in 2016 by $300 to $400.

Isn't that what we want, to lower the cost of insurance for individuals? This is the way to do it.

Finally, the Joint Committee on Taxation letter confirms the following:

Repealing the health insurance industry fee would reduce the premium prices of plans offered by covered entities by 2 to 2 1/2 percent.

This ill-conceived discriminatory tax must be eliminated. It must be stopped well before it starts to impact individuals, families, and small businesses. Our bill is a critical piece of pro-business legislation. It has the support of organizations such as the National Federation of Independent Business, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and America's health insurance plans.

I urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are concerned about the cost of insurance for families of America, who are shocked and surprised, some in disbelief, that what the President promised the American people--of a reduction in premiums--isn't true, and who want to try to in a little way right that wrong to do so by cosponsoring and supporting the Jobs and Premium Protection Act.

I thank the Chair and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Hatch--especially Senator Hatch--for his leadership and for joining me in introducing this legislation today. The time has come to eliminate a bad policy that not only increases health insurance costs but also negatively impacts America's job creators.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source