The Legacy of Obamacare: Increased Costs, Diminishing Choices and Broken Promises

Obamacare is a direct assault on the middle class, and it will continue to get worse unless we act. Both in Congress and the administration, we are working to fulfill our commitment to the American people.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding Congress' commitment to repeal and replace Obamacare:

"We've all seen the headlines. We've all heard the heartbreaking stories. We've all watched as health insurance markets have edged closer to collapse. And we've noticed a common theme: Obamacare is failing in Kentucky and around the country.

"In my home state, insurance premiums increased by up to 47 percent. As insurers flee the market, nearly half of the counties in my state have only one option for an insurer on the exchange. And many families' deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses have skyrocketed to a point that their plans are too expensive to actually use. In other words, they have health insurance but not necessarily health care.

"The legacy of Obamacare is one of increased costs, diminishing choices, and broken promises. In four elections in a row, Kentuckians have overwhelmingly rejected this failed law. The pain caused by Obamacare is real for millions of Americans.

"Listen to this small business owner from Versailles, Kentucky. She wrote to my office asking for relief. Here's what she said:

"'The first year of Obamacare our monthly premiums tripled,' she wrote, and now, 'Our current plan will be discontinued ... at the end of this year... this is prohibitive for us. We are getting desperate and discouraged.'

"Unfortunately, stories like hers are hardly unique -- not in Kentucky, and not across America -- because too many are suffering under Obamacare.

"Obamacare is a direct assault on the middle class, and it will continue to get worse unless we act. Both in Congress and the administration, we are working to fulfill our commitment to the American people.

"We remain committed to the repeal and replacement of Obamacare with health care policies that work. When the House finishes its work on the Obamacare repeal legislation, I look forward to taking it up here in the Senate. The administration will continue working to deliver relief and stabilize health markets as well.

"Americans are ready for a better way forward after the failure of Obamacare, and I urge all my colleagues to work together so we can deliver it."

Read this original document at: https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=6D88FB6A-2114-4E6F-BC53-1129E1706F70