Obamacare Has Had Disastrous Impacts Across the Country

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Contact: Don Stewart, David Popp 202-224-2979 Robert Steurer, Stephanie Penn 202-224-8288

Obamacare Has Had Disastrous Impacts Across the Country

'Since Obamacare was fully enacted in 2013, premiums have increased by an average of 105 percent and millions of Americans have lost their plans. This year, people in just under three quarters of counties nationally have only one or two choices on the Obamacare exchanges and the situation is likely to only get worse next year.'

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the failures of Obamacare:

"Just this week, Ohioans learned that a major insurer will exit their state's Obamacare exchanges next year, leaving thousands in at least 18 counties without a single option in the marketplace. The state's Insurance Department cites Obamacare as the reason behind this troubling news, saying, 'Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Ohio had a very competitive health insurance market. [But] new regulations from [the] ACA have driven some companies out of Ohio and made it harder for them to do business, both of which have driven up the cost of health insurance in Ohio.'

"Forcing insurance options out of the marketplace. Making it harder for people to find coverage. Driving up costs of health insurance. These are the results of Obamacare, in Ohio and across the country, and the pain is all too real for thousands of Americans like those the president visited with yesterday. As he addressed a crowd in Cincinnati, the president shared the story of a small business owner from Louisville, Kentucky, who as the president said, is just one of the 'many victims of the Obamacare catastrophe' forced on the American people.

"Before Obamacare, this Kentuckian's employees had access to 'multiple options for high quality, affordable health care.' Now, under the failed health care law, these workers face premiums that are 150 percent higher while having fewer choices. To make matters worse, health insurance under Obamacare has become so unaffordable that he now has difficulty creating new jobs that could employ even more Kentuckians.

"This Louisville man is not alone either. Just a couple days ago, Dr. Tom Price, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, met with small business owners who've faced similar challenges because of Obamacare, people like one Kentuckian from Richmond. Here's what this Kentuckian and founder of a CPA firm said of her experience with the failed health care law. 'Of all the clients that we see, there's not one good story about Obamacare. And it's mostly without exception, horror stories of what has happened to themselves and their own employees.' She, like so many others, knows that the so-called Affordable Care Act has really been anything but affordable for too many small business owners and their employees.

"These Kentuckians' stories provide just a glimpse into the disastrous impacts Obamacare has had on Americans across the country. And though some may try to paint a different picture now, Obamacare is directly responsible for the failures and the hurt it's created -- not the American people, not those of us trying to help rescue families from this ill-advised law. Since Obamacare was fully enacted in 2013, premiums have increased by an average of 105 percent and millions of Americans have lost their plans. This year, people in just under three quarters of counties nationally have only one or two choices on the Obamacare exchanges and the situation is likely to only get worse next year.

"That's why Senate Republicans believe we must act, it's why we're working to keep our commitment to the American people and finally provide relief from Obamacare. This law has failed the American people and the status quo of Obamacare is clearly unsustainable. As Senate Republicans continue our conversations on a path forward, I hope our Democratic colleagues will finally put aside their last-ditch efforts to salvage this failing law that's hurting so many people in the states they represent. It's time to face reality, no matter how inconvenient it may be, and help those who are counting on relief from Obamacare."