Cornyn: Health Care Status Quo Isn’t Working

Contact: Drew Brandewie, (202) 224-0704 Ryann DuRant, (202) 224-0704

Monday, July 10, 2017

Cornyn: Health Care Status Quo Isn't Working

'In my state alone, in the state of Texas, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, as many as 600,000 new low-income Texans will benefit from the provisions of the Better Care Act. It will help qualify them for a tax credit not available to them under Obamacare.'

'We're going to continue to talk and listen and exchange ideas on how we can continue to make improvements. But, in the end, the choice is clear. You either ultimately support Obamacare and the status quo, or you're willing to try to work with us to do something better.'

'That's simply the choice that people are going to have. A no-vote against an alternative is simply a vote for the status quo under Obamacare.'

WASHINGTON - Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed the ongoing effort to replace Obamacare with real health care reform. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn's remarks are below, and video of his remarks can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch'v=3Bk0VijxnFE.

"Many of our friends across the aisle, in fact all of them so far here in the Senate, have made clear they want nothing to do with providing any help or any aid to the people who are being hurt by the failures of Obamacare."

"And now they're in the process of attacking those of us who are trying to help people who are hurting rather than lending a helping hand and working together with us in a bipartisan way."

"For those Americans, I want to make sure they understand, notwithstanding all the scare tactics: Medicaid is not going away."

"In my state alone, in the state of Texas, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, as many as 600,000 new low-income Texans will benefit from the provisions of the Better Care Act. It will help qualify them for a tax credit not available to them under Obamacare."

"By providing low-income Americans access to private insurance instead of Medicaid, we can assist those who were previously left out of the health care market and will now be able to purchase a plan of their choice, perhaps for the first time."

"Our plan also frees consumers from government mandates requiring them to buy insurance they don't want and they can't afford. This way families can choose what works best for them, free from the penalty by the government. And for some individuals, they may choose to go with no plan at all."

"We're going to continue to talk and listen and exchange ideas on how we can continue to make improvements. But, in the end, the choice is clear. You either ultimately support Obamacare and the status quo, or you're willing to try to work with us to do something better."

"That's simply the choice that people are going to have. A no vote against an alternative is simply a vote for the status quo under Obamacare."

Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, is a member of the Senate Finance, Intelligence, and Judiciary Committees.