Drug Quality and Security and Act - Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, in a front page story yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that fewer than 50,000 people had successfully used the Federal ObamaCare Web site to enroll in a private health plan--less than 50,000. Meanwhile, we know that millions of Americans are already getting a cancellation notice from their insurance company telling them that their current policy--even if they like it--will no longer be available. In other words, if you like what you have, it turns out you cannot keep it--as millions of people are finding.

No less a luminary in the Democratic Party than President Clinton has said that ObamaCare should be reformed to let people maintain their current health insurance. And we will see some votes in the House of Representatives as soon as Friday on that proposition, helping the President keep his promise to the American people that if you like what you have, you can keep it, which currently has proven not to be the case.

Just a month ago, Democrats of all stripes were declaring that Obama was the settled law of the land and condemning attempts on our side of the aisle to actually reform it. Now we are seeing more and more of our friends across the aisle contemplating serious changes aimed at fixing some of the law's myriad problems. Some, but not all, of the problems with ObamaCare have become painfully obvious--some, because I think most people probably think ObamaCare has already been implemented, when, in fact, it has only begun to be implemented.

But we know ObamaCare is forcing people to lose their health insurance and/or their doctor. It may be that even in the exchanges, the hospital which they prefer to be treated at or the doctor from whom they would prefer to have their care, they will not be available on the exchanges.

We also know that ObamaCare is raising health care premiums. Again, the President promised that if we passed ObamaCare, we would see a reduction in the premiums for a family of four of about $2,500. Instead of seeing premiums go down, we are seeing premiums go up.

We know that Medicare and Medicaid remain on an unsustainable path, and we are actually seeing, in many States, the States opting to expand the Medicaid program, when they cannot even care for or pay for the people who are currently in the Medicaid program.

We have found that organized labor has gone to the White House. They said that because of the incentives in ObamaCare, many full-time employees were now being put on part-time work in order to avoid some of the penalties associated with ObamaCare.

We know that in the medical device sector--one of the most innovative parts of health care today--those jobs are moving offshore. They are moving outside of the United States, and it is stifling innovation, this medical device tax which is part of the pay-for of ObamaCare.

But here is another issue that has not gotten much attention lately. I was a little surprised when I came across this article in the Atlantic magazine, but the truth is the ObamaCare structure penalizes people for getting married. Certain couples who do qualify for the ObamaCare subsidies right now would lose those subsidies if they got married. In some cases, the ObamaCare marriage penalty could amount to thousands of dollars. So just when you think things could not quite get any worse, you find out they do.

As if all these problems were not bad enough, ObamaCare has also created a magnet for fraud and corruption in the so-called navigators program. You will remember, the navigators were created in order to help people sign up on the exchanges. But we know the navigators will be collecting sensitive tax and personal information--medical, both physical and mental health information--from folks all across the country as they try to navigate ObamaCare. But we also know, because the Secretary of Health and Human Services admitted this last week, that they are not subject to any kind of background check, including a criminal background check. As a matter of fact, I think Secretary Sebelius surprised an awful lot of people when she admitted that people participating in the navigator program could possibly be convicted felons because there is simply no screening mechanism to bar them from participating in the process and no background check whatsoever.

Then we have learned, as a result of some creative journalists, that navigators, including those in my home State of Texas, were actively encouraging people to break the law as a process of signing up for the ObamaCare exchanges.

It is simply astounding that the administration is urging the American people to give their Social Security numbers and sensitive personal information to people who have not been properly vetted. Yesterday I called on the President to suspend the navigators program, and I want to reiterate that call today. He needs to end it, at least until basic precautions are taken to prevent identity theft and corruption and fraud.

Given the lack of Federal background checks and other safeguards, this program is an invitation to fraud and identity theft.

As with so many other aspects of ObamaCare, the problems with the navigators program are the result of politically motivated decisions. Do not just take my word for it. Consider the scathing indictment that was recently issued by Michael Astrue, who served as HHS general counsel from 1989 to 1992. More recently, he served as a commissioner for Social Security, from 2007 to 2013.

Writing in the Weekly Standard, Mr. Astrue points out:

Instead of hiring well-screened, well-trained, and well-supervised workers, HHS decided to build political support for the Affordable Care Act by pouring money into supportive organizations so they could launch poorly trained workers into their communities without obtaining criminal background checks or creating systems for monitoring their activities.

Over the long term, we need to dismantle ObamaCare entirely and replace it with patient-centered alternatives that will actually bring costs down; improve the quality of care, by making more care accessible; and leaving the choices with consumers and their families, patients and their doctors making the decisions, not Washington, DC. In the short term, we need to also dismantle the navigators program before it unleashes a wave of fraud and corruption.

I yield the floor.

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