Obamacare

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, the decisions we make in this body matter to the people in this country. They matter to families. When Obama and the Democrats in Congress, with no Republican votes, chose to radically alter health care--something that impacts every American and compromises one-sixth of the United States economy--the effects extend well beyond committee hearing rooms, courtrooms, and government office suites. The effects are felt in doctors' offices. They are felt in homes across the Fifth District I represent. They are felt by moms and dads who are finding out the health care that they had counted on keeping, insurance they had budgeted for and know they can afford, won't be around next year.

Earlier this month, it was estimated that 160,000 North Carolinians received that unwelcome news. My constituent Dawn from Wilkes County is one of them. She wrote to me to tell me exactly how Washington's interference with her health care is affecting her. Let me let Dawn speak for herself.

Dear Representative Foxx: Never in my life have I been without health insurance. I am writing to share with you the impact of the Affordable Care Act on my health care options.

I work part-time and purchase my own health insurance. In order have an affordable monthly premium and to have the possibility of budgeting for dental and vision care as well as general medical care, I have had a high-deductible health savings account, HSA, for several years.

The Affordable Care Act has eliminated my current HSA with BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina. I currently have an annual deductible of $5,000 and a monthly premium of $160.30.

The ACA-compliant replacement policy which I have been offered by BlueCross BlueShield will have a $5,500 annual deductible and will cost $478.60 per month. Even with a 10 percent higher deductible, this new plan will cost $318.30 per month more than what I can now afford. That is a 198 percent increase--almost three times what I now pay--for a plan with a higher deductible. Please help me understand how this is affordable care.

My husband and I do not have cable or satellite television, high-speed Internet, smartphones, or other optional services which we can cancel in order to pay the astounding increase in my health insurance premium. We do qualify for a partial subsidy to help cover the premium, but that does not change the $5,743.20 annual price for this meager health insurance policy. It merely shifts part of the expense to our children and some other taxpayers.

I have spoken with representatives in the health care exchange and www.healthcare.gov and with independent insurance brokers, but they offer little hope. Do I have any option in order to continue to live within my means and afford to pay for my own health care? I am truly bewildered.

Sincerely,
Dawn.

Mr. Speaker, reading Dawn's letter breaks my heart. This is a woman who plans ahead. She budgets carefully. She takes pride in her work and responsibility for herself and for her family. ObamaCare is changing things drastically for her and millions of other Americans like her.

With about a month to go before the Affordable Care Act renders her current health insurance illegal, Dawn is left with questions, the last of which I will repeat again:

Is it possible to live within my means and afford to pay for my own health care?

Americans took the President at his word when he said they would be able to keep the care and doctors they liked. They trusted that a law called the Affordable Care Act would actually make health care more affordable. They believed that the President wouldn't raise taxes on the middle class through this law.

Mr. Speaker, the President's broken promises are hurting families like Dawn's, but the higher premiums and the canceled plans are central to ObamaCare. The law will work only if many Americans are compelled to leave their current plans and pay more for government-approved insurance.

Now, as the country is becoming better acquainted with this very sad reality, Democrats and Republicans in Washington must recognize that repeal is still the only way to solve all of ObamaCare's problems.

The answer to America's health care challenges is not going to be found in 100 percent partisan solutions like the Affordable Care Act. We should work together to enact honest, patient-centered reforms that empower families like Dawn's with choices and custom care options so that she can continue to pay for health care and still live within her means.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from California. \

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