Default Prevention Act of 2013 - Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there has been a lot of debate on the floor of the Senate about ObamaCare, which is also called the Affordable Care Act. It passed about 3 1/2 years ago. Why did we do this? Why did we enact this law? It wasn't easy and it took months to achieve. The goal was quite simple: We wanted to make sure 40 to 50 million uninsured Americans would have a chance to have health insurance.
That is a worthy goal because even uninsured people get sick. If you don't have health insurance and get sick and show up at the hospital, they will take care of you, but then when you can't pay the bill, they transfer that obligation to everyone else. It is estimated we spend about $1,000 a year in health insurance premiums to cover the care of uninsured people. Not only do these people without insurance live without the peace of mind of having protection when they get sick, the rest of us with health insurance pay for it. That is not right. In a society such as ours, we should accept responsibility to not only have health insurance but to make it available for everyone.
When we took a look at the health insurance market, here is what we found. There were parts of health insurance that were just plain wrong.
Imagine someone in your family has a preexisting condition. It is not uncommon. Think of the possibilities. There are only a few that come to mind: asthma, diabetes, cancer survivor, women. It turned out that if you had issues such as those in your background, you could be discriminated against and people would not sell you health insurance. ObamaCare eliminated discrimination based on preexisting conditions. When the Republicans come to the floor and say they want to repeal ObamaCare, they are repealing that protection for families who have a child or a member of the family with a preexisting condition. That is what they are saying.
ObamaCare also said that if you have a limit on your policy of how much it will pay in any given year, that is stricken. Why would we do that? Because you never know what could happen. Tomorrow morning a doctor's diagnosis or an accident could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical bills that you could pay because there was a limit on your protection. That limitation was stricken by ObamaCare. Those who want to eliminate ObamaCare would allow the insurance companies to put those restrictions in again.
What about parents who have children fresh out of college and looking for a job? Some of them will be lucky and will get a job with health care benefits. Some won't be so lucky. They may get a job without any benefits or they may not get a job. With ObamaCare, we kept those kids--your sons and daughters--on your family health insurance plan up to age 26. Those who want to eliminate ObamaCare want to eliminate that opportunity for American families to give their kids health care protection while they are looking for a job.
We also basically said that senior citizens under Medicare should not pay out of pocket over $1,000 a year for their prescription drugs. We closed the so-called doughnut hole. Eventually they will not be paying out-of-pocket. We are reducing the financial obligation of seniors to reach into savings accounts for the medicine they need to stay strong, healthy, and independent.
Those who want to abolish ObamaCare--and we heard it a minute or two ago from the Senator from Florida on the Republican side of the aisle, as well as the junior Senator from Texas--are basically saying to seniors: Pay more out of pocket for prescription drugs.
I don't think that is right.
What we are offering with insurance exchanges across America now in 50 States is the same opportunity for uninsured people that Members of Congress have today. Members of Congress are under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers 8 million Federal employees and their families. That means we have an open enrollment period every year, and we can choose--my wife and I--from nine different policies in the State of Illinois. We take the one we want, and we have good coverage. It is not the most expensive or the best, but it is good coverage. We get to shop. It is hard for many Members of Congress to remember or believe that most Americans never have that luxury. They can't shop for health insurance. Some of them are denied any health insurance. Some work for an employer who says ``take it or leave it,'' and some just can't afford to buy anything. The insurance exchanges offer the opportunity for the 40 to 50 million uninsured and those buying in the private insurance market to go shopping for the best policy for themselves and their families.
Competition and shopping in a marketplace is what Americans are looking for, and that is what the Republicans want to close down. They want to close that down. Some would say: Obviously, there is a Republican plan for health insurance. The Republican plan for health insurance--this blank piece of paper. They have no plan. They have no ideas. They are just opposed to ObamaCare, and that is why they initially shut down this government. They wanted to defund ObamaCare.
Two interesting things happened after they made that announcement:
The marketplaces came online and ran into serious problems. They are currently restructuring them because they were not prepared for the overwhelming response to these insurance marketplaces. I am sorry they weren't. I don't know who is responsible for it, but we need to know. In the meantime, we have the insurance marketplaces up and running.
The second thing that happened as the marketplaces went online--after the Republicans announced they wanted to defund ObamaCare and therefore shut down the government--was the popularity of ObamaCare increased. People across America said: Finally. This is a good idea. Those of us who have access to the marketplace can finally go shopping for health insurance.
Exactly the opposite of what the Republicans thought would happen happened. The American people are open and more receptive to the idea of going to these marketplaces if they don't have health insurance or if they have health insurance they can't afford. The health insurance marketplace is open for business, and people across the
Nation have started shopping for it. Many people have waited for years, even decades.
I came to the floor when the junior Senator from Texas was holding the floor for 21 hours and asked him to consider the case of a young--I call her young--lady I met in Illinois named Judy. She is a housekeeper in a motel that I stay in in southern Illinois. She is in her early sixties, worked every day of her life, never had health insurance not even for one day of her life, and she now has diabetes and she is worried. We got some local doctors to see her and give her some recommendations and try to help her, but she has never had health insurance.
I asked Senator Cruz from Texas: What are we going to do with Judy? If she doesn't have this marketplace where she can go for health insurance for the first time in her life, what is going to happen to her?
He said to me: She needs to get a better job.
Well, it is easy for us to say that, but this poor woman has worked hard all of her life. There is not a lazy bone in her body. She is doing the very best she can. Senators ought to realize that some people--even working as hard as they can--cannot get health insurance unless ObamaCare goes through.
Sixteen States and the District of Columbia have created their own exchanges. Those State-operated exchanges have opened fairly smoothly.
California had 7,700 applications for health insurance on the first day.
Kentucky is a great success story for ObamaCare. More than 5,000 people or families enrolled for health care and there were 10,000 completed applications on the first day. I understand that the number of people who have now enrolled for health care is closer to 10,000. Think about that. There are 10,000 families in the State of Kentucky who now have a chance to get health care. Those who want to defund it and close it down are closing down their opportunity to have protection for their families.
New Mexico is partnering with the Federal Government for individual and family coverage, but it is operating the shop exchange, which allows small businesses to find group coverage for their employees. In the first couple of days, 428 different employers in New Mexico signed up for coverage. They got a better deal in the competitive marketplace than they could find in the private sector beforehand. Republicans want to shut down that opportunity for these businesses. It doesn't make sense.
The Federal Government is managing the marketplace in 34 States, including my home State of Illinois. By Friday of last week there had been 8.6 million unique visitors to the Federal exchange Web sites.
What we are finding across America is that people have been waiting for this chance. I met a lawyer who contacted the insurance exchanges and found that for his business--a small business--it cut the premiums they are going to pay annually by one-third. Six out of every ten people who sign up for health insurance under the ObamaCare insurance exchanges will pay less than $100 a month in premiums. For less than what many of them are paying for cable TV, they will have health insurance coverage they can afford.
When the other side starts talking about closing down ObamaCare and can't come up with any replacement whatsoever, I think we ought to stop and ask whether that is in the best interest of a better America. If you or someone in your family has ever lived with a serious illness and no health insurance, you will never, ever forget it. I have been there. You will never, ever forget it. We ought to offer every American family a chance to get affordable, quality health insurance for the first time in their lives.
The second issue, which relates to this and which I find hard to believe, after trying to defund ObamaCare by closing down the government, they started on a new approach. Senator Vitter of Louisiana had an amendment that would restrict--at least in terms of costs--the availability of health insurance for some Federal employees who work here on Capitol Hill and Members of Congress. I think that is totally unfair, and it troubles me that the Republicans have gone from defunding ObamaCare to defunding the health insurance of their own staff employees. These are hard-working people in my office, and I bet they are hard-working in every Senate and House office. They stay late, answer the phones, and try to help people who are struggling with redtape. When a family is facing difficulties and can't afford a lawyer, our people try to help them out with government agencies as best they can. They answer the mail, they answer the phones, and they answer emails. The notion that we are going to limit or restrict their health insurance is absolutely unacceptable and unfair. These people deserve good health insurance just as every American does.
When Senator Vitter comes to the floor with his amendment which would dramatically increase the cost of their health insurance, it is fundamentally unfair. It is mean. It is small. It is beneath our dignity. We ought to stand behind our employees whom we hire to represent us across the United States of America. If we do, we will defeat this Vitter amendment if it ever comes back for consideration.
ObamaCare has started--and there have been some bumps in the road, that is for sure--and now that we have these marketplaces open, people are going to see what opportunities are available to them.
As most people know, Members of Congress and many of their staff members are going to be covered with the same insurance, as everyone is buying in the insurance marketplace. Not all congressional staff members are involved, but many will be. Members of Congress will all be directed to the insurance exchange if that is what they choose to buy for their families. I am prepared to do just that. I think it will be quality health insurance, which is what every American deserves.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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