Obamacare's Impact in Arkansas

Floor Speech

Mr. WOMACK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share the realities of ObamaCare in my district, the Third District of Arkansas. Health insurance enrollment through www.healthcareÐ.gov can be described as dismal, at best. Only an embarrassing 250 Arkansans have managed to enroll.

Shawn Kispert, one of my constituents from Fort Smith, and her husband are self-employed and have spent over 64 hours on www.healthcare.gov attempting to sign up for the insurance ObamaCare requires them to purchase. She then tried to sign up via telephone. That was also fruitless.

The very few Arkansans that have successfully logged on have found, in over 60 percent of the State, only one or two provider options offering plans that increase their premiums by as much as 600 percent.

Rod Rogers of Sulphur Springs will see his family's insurance premiums go from $248 to $876 a month. Jeff Asher of Russellville is facing budget-busting monthly premiums of over $900.

In October, my fellow Arkansas Republicans and I wrote to Secretary Sebelius to ask for more information on ObamaCare's effect on Arkansans. Much like the pleas from hardworking taxpayers asking for relief from the law's suffocating regulations and overbearing mandates, our request was ignored.

But we don't need a response from the administration to tell us what I am hearing from my constituents: ObamaCare is raising the cost of health care, creating uncertainty in Arkansas, and hurting Americans. We need to replace it with real reforms and focus on the patient, not the government.

Source