Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act--Motion to Proceed--Resumed
Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, yesterday, Vice President Biden and other Obama administration officials hosted presidents and leaders from colleges and universities at the White House. Officials promoted this event as an opportunity, they said, to highlight the transparency of college costs. They said these schools were committed to providing key financial information to all of their incoming students starting next year.
Well, once again, transparency took a back seat to politics. In fact, the White House failed--failed--to level with college students about important financial information, including how the President's health care law is going to make it harder for many students in terms of their ability to get health insurance through their universities.
Earlier this week, the real story came out, and I will tell you it is discouraging. I continue to come to the floor week after week with a doctor's second opinion about the health care law because I think the health care law is bad for patients, it is bad for providers--the nurses and the doctors who take care of those patients--it is terrible for our taxpayers. I do not think I realized at the time I started doing these second opinions that it was going to be terrible for students going to college.
Take a look at these unintended consequences that have come out of this health care law. But I will tell you, on Monday, national news reports showed that the coverage requirements in the President's health care law--the mandated requirements in the health care law of a certain level of government-approved coverage--well, it is causing colleges all across the country to drop insurance coverage for their students. I would like to explain exactly how this works.
As Members of this body who voted for this on the other side of the aisle will recall, the health care law eliminates annual and lifetime benefits for insurance plans. Many colleges offer their students an opportunity for limited benefit policies to give students access to affordable health insurance coverage that actually is something that a college student might need, might benefit from, may be helped with.
These are the same benefit plans that have been popular with many unions across the country. The plans were so popular that the administration issued over 1,700 waivers which impacted over 4 million Americans. These Washington waivers ensured that people who got their insurance through certain corporations and unions would not lose the coverage they had in the lead-up to the full implementation of the health care law.
Well, over half of these waivers were granted to individuals who received their insurance through their unions so these individuals would not lose their coverage during the time when the unions were saying: This health care law is too expensive for us. We don't want to live under these mandates. We can't afford it.
Well, the colleges are finding the same situation. But unlike the unions, the colleges are not eligible to apply for these special administration waivers from the health care law. So students across the country are suffering the consequences.
This year, because of the President's health care law, these students are not going to be able to purchase or afford coverage through their schools. Schools are faced with two options: One is raise premiums dramatically, drastically, or just don't offer the health insurance programs students like, parents like, and the universities like to provide. The President of the United States and the Democrats who voted for this health care law essentially have said: Too bad.
So let's give an example from New York State. The State University of New York in Plattsburgh offered students coverage in the past for $440 per year. Next year policies will cost anywhere between $1,300 and $1,600 per student per year. That is an increase of four times, 400 percent. Why? Because the students are going to end up paying for a lot of insurance they do not need, they do not want, and they possibly cannot afford. But yet the President mandates they get this high level of insurance coverage even though it is something the people at the university think their students do not need. The universities do not have a choice. The President makes those decisions, not the president of the university but the President of the United States.
The University of Puget Sound in Washington was able to offer its students insurance last year for $165--insurance they believed was helpful to the students. Next year, to comply with the President's health care law--the mandated high levels of coverage--they estimate a policy will now cost between $1,500 and $2,000.
Since the Obama administration's mandates were so expensive, what is the University of Puget Sound going to do? Well, they announced they will not be offering any insurance coverage to any students next year--a decision made by the university.
It is clear the President's health care law leaves many students with two bad choices: They can either be forced to pay vastly increased premiums or basically lose access to coverage altogether. This new development flies completely in the face of the President's promise. The President said: If you like what you have, you can keep it. But let's specifically go to the President's exact promise:
No matter how we reform health care--
The President of the United States said--
we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period.
He went on to say:
If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period.
He then said:
No one will take it away. No matter what.
He said:
My view is that health care reform should be guided by a simple principle: fix what's broken and build on what works.
Here we are, over 2 years later, and we continue to witness the Obama administration breaking this very specific promise. Now we can add college students to the long list of people who found out the reality does not match President Obama's rhetoric. At a time when students across the Nation face increasing tuition costs and a bleak job market, now they have to deal with losing their health insurance.
Each day it becomes more obvious that the Obama economy, which includes the President's health care law, has made life worse for millions of Americans. It cannot continue. If the Supreme Court does not completely repeal this health care law, Congress needs to do it. Republicans are committed to repealing this law and replacing it with step-by-step reforms. We will continue to help Americans of all ages work to get the care they want from a doctor they choose at a lower cost.
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