Obamacare Chaos Hurting American Families

SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Contact: Antonia Ferrier 202.228.NEWS

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Obamacare Chaos Hurting American Families 'The Law Hasn't Just Failed To Live Up To Its Promises, It Is Actively Collapsing, And The Status Quo Is Unsustainable' '[T]he Vast Majority Of Our Citizens Know The Truth: Obamacare Just Doesn't Work.'

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): "[T]he pain Americans are experiencing is deeply personal, the betrayal middle-class families are feeling is clearly palpable, and -- unless we do something soon -- Americans will continue to lose their health plans. They'll continue to get stuck with insurance that costs more and offers less. Costs will continue to rise unsustainably. Choices will continue to shrink uncontrollably. No amount of Obamacare happy-talk or reality-denial is going to change that." (Sen. McConnell, Press Release, 1/05/2017)

* LEADER McCONNELL: "Democrats chose to rip apart our health care system 7 years ago and give us the chaos we're seeing -- and things only continue to get worse unless we act now. It's time to finally bring relief. The status quo is simply unsustainable. The reality is that, by nearly any measure, Obamacare has failed." (Sen. McConnell, Press Release, 1/05/2017)

SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN MIKE ENZI (R-WY): "The President's health law has pushed insurance markets to the brink of collapse. Premiums for hardworking families are soaring, while patients' choices are dwindling. I urge my friends on the other side of the aisle to face the facts that ObamaCare has failed to deliver on its core promises and is hurting far more than it is helping... For many Americans caught up in ObamaCare's tangled and expensive web of regulations, the situation is grim and only getting worse by the day. It is time to act." (Sen. Enzi, Congressional Record, S. 32, 1/04/2017)

SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN ORRIN HATCH (R-UT): "[T]he vast majority of our citizens know the truth: Obamacare just doesn't work. According to the results of a recent Gallup poll, 80 percent of Americans want Congress to either change the Affordable Care Act significantly or repeal and replace it altogether... After all, under Obamacare, the cost of health insurance has increased dramatically, and will continue to do so into the future. Under Obamacare, individuals and families are being left with fewer and fewer choices when it comes to buying health insurance. Under Obamacare, patients have fewer options and reduced access to healthcare providers. And, under Obamacare, the American people have been hit with steep taxes, burdensome mandates, and a healthcare system that simply does not meet their needs." (U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Press Release, 1/05/2017)

SENATE HELP COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): "According to the Tennessee insurance commissioner, the Obamacare insurance market in our state is 'very near collapse.' Across the country, premiums and co-pays are up and employers have cut jobs to afford Obamacare costs. Medicaid mandates are consuming state budgets. In one third of America's counties citizens with federal subsidies only have a single choice of company to buy insurance from on Obamacare exchanges. Without quick action, next year they may have zero choices. Their subsidies may be worth as much as a bus ticket in a town where no buses run." (U.S. Senate HELP Committee, Press Release, 1/10/2017)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): "[I]f there was one consistent complaint that I heard from my constituents back in Texas and that we heard in the national media and beyond, it is about the failure of the promise of ObamaCare. We made a solemn commitment to the American people that if they provided us with the majority we needed to do it and if they provided us a President who would sign it, we would repeal ObamaCare and we would replace it... By repealing ObamaCare, Congress is doing more than just delivering on a promise we made to the people who put us here. We are providing a way forward for millions of people across the country who have been hurt by ObamaCare and are looking for relief." (Sen. Cornyn, Congressional Record, S. 35-36, 1/04/2017)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): "The law hasn't just failed to live up to its promises, it is actively collapsing, and the status quo is unsustainable. Premiums on the exchanges are soaring. Deductibles regularly run into the thousands of dollars... With deductibles like that, it is no wonder that some Americans can't afford to actually use their ObamaCare insurance... ObamaCare has not fixed our Nation's health care problems. It has made them worse. The American people deserve better." (Sen. Thune, Congressional Record, S. 184-5, 1/10/2017)

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): "[P]eople all around the State of Wyoming are talking about the fact that their costs have gone up and choices have gone down. Many who had insurance that worked for them lost that insurance all related to a law passed in the House and the Senate and signed into law by President Obama... Democrats are out there saying that if we try to replace ObamaCare with a better solution, that it is just going to, in their words, cause chaos in the health insurance industry. Where have they been" There is chaos everywhere because of ObamaCare. When you look at what Democrats did to America's health care system, what you see is chaos. Premiums are up 25 percent in 1 year. That is chaos... When Americans look at this, what they see is already chaos, and ObamaCare caused it." (Sen. Barrasso, Congressional Record, S. 185, 1/10/2017)

SEN. ROY BLUNT (R-MO): "President Obama said this law would mean more choice, more competition, and lower costs for millions of Americans... But there aren't millions of Americans who have more choices, and there aren't millions of Americans who have more competition for their business, and there aren't millions of Americans who have lower costs. In fact, just the opposite would be the case in Missouri, where I live. A number of insurers pulled out of the exchange totally. Our neighboring States all have the same experience and, in some cases, even worse experience, but the competition, the choices, just aren't there because the system doesn't work." (Sen. Blunt, Congressional Record, S. 84, 1/05/2017)

SEN. JERRY MORAN (R-KS): "[U]nfortunately, the Affordable Care Act has failed us and has failed to keep its promises. Canceled policies, elimination of certain plans, difficulties in identifying new plans, massive premium increases, sky-high deductibles, and limited options for doctors have really become a new standard for many American families... Unfortunately, ObamaCare--the Affordable Care Act--has taken away the freedom to make health care decisions from Americans, from us as individuals, and given way too much authority to the federal government." (Sen. Moran, Congressional Record, S. 88, 1/05/2017)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): "I hear my Democratic colleagues praising ObamaCare... I heard a colleague talking about how ObamaCare was addressing high pharmaceutical costs... Tell that to a senior who is paying $6,000 for her medicine, which before ObamaCare passed was a fraction of that... So when people speak about the affordable health care act, I have to laugh. If this is affordable, what would be unaffordable" We can clearly do better than this." (Sen. Cassidy, Congressional Record, S. 90, 1/05/2017)

SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R-OH): "We got here because the Affordable Care Act has not met its promises and has let down the people of Ohio and people around the country... I heard Senator Hatch talk about having to make a choice between paying your rent or being able to pay your premium. That is what I hear in Ohio as I talk to people who are struggling and are now being hit with these huge expenses. Unless we take action, there is no light at the end of the tunnel... The law was advertised as something that would 'bend the cost curve,' meaning we would begin to see a reduction in the costs of health care, but health care costs have gone up, not down, and on top of that, American people had to pay hundreds of billions of dollars every year in taxes for this new law." (Sen. Portman, Congressional Record, S. 92, 1/05/2017)

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