Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the failure of Obamacare and efforts to defund the law:
“Later this morning in Maryland, the President will try yet again to sell his namesake health care plan to a skeptical public. He’ll claim that Americans will have lots and lots of options under Obamacare. Unfortunately, keeping the plan you have and like will not be an option for a great many Americans.
“And it must be frustrating for the President that folks seem to keep tuning out all the happy talk anyway.
“Well, it’s not hard to see, frankly, why Americans aren’t buying the spin.
“Over the past couple of years, I’ve participated in more than 50 health care town halls in my home state. I’ve met with health care professionals, doctors, and nurses. I’ve met with patients. And I’ve met with everyday Kentuckians– folks who are just concerned about providing health care for their families.
“Many of the Kentuckians I’ve met with are a lot more knowledgeable about Obamacare than the Washington intelligentsia might like to assume. In fact, more than a few of them seem to know more about the law than some of my colleagues who rammed it through Congress. And let’s be clear – a person doesn’t need a Ph.D. to understand that a law that drives costs up, rather than down, is a bad deal. Kentuckians understand that new government bureaucracies are less likely to lower costs and improve care than they are to just simply get in the way. And so it is for these and so many other reasons that Kentuckians – and people right across this country – are rightly concerned about Obamacare.
“Two nights ago, I had another great opportunity to connect on this issue with Kentuckians via a tele-town hall. And I’ll tell you, the good people of my state are as concerned about this law as ever.
“One woman who participated said she thought she had been making it, but reports that she will now be forced to get a second job due in no small part to Obamacare.
“I’ve received more than 50,000 letters from constituents frustrated by Obamacare too.
“Single parents want to know what they’re supposed to do when their hours are cut. Families want to know why Washington is okay with their insurance premiums going up by double digits.
“Small business owners want to know how they’re ever, ever going to comply with more than 20,000 pages of regulations. They want to know how they’re going to be able to keep their employees insured, workforces growing, businesses expanding, and – far too often – their doors open once this law comes online.
“One Kentuckian from Henderson wrote to tell me about the small trucking business she and her husband own. They’ve got 13 employees, and they’ve always provided insurance for all of them. But their agent recently told them their premiums will go up 100%. Here’s what she wrote to me: ‘We can’t afford this, even if we raised the portion the employees pay. Then they wouldn’t be able to afford it.’ That was an experience reported to me by a woman and her husband running a small business in Henderson.
“These are the utterly predictable consequences of a law rammed through by a Democrat Majority – over the objections of the American people – early on a cold, dark Christmas Eve morning.
“And until a few brave Democrats join our united Republican caucus in voting to get rid of Obamacare and starting over with real bipartisan reform…well, we’re going to continue hearing the same heart-wrenching stories over and over and over again.
“We’re going to keep seeing articles like the one that appeared earlier this week in Politico. It’s titled ‘Obamacare: One Blow after Another.’ And I want to read the opening paragraph: ‘The Obamacare that consumers will finally be able to sign up for next week,’ it says, ‘is a long way from the health plan President Barack Obama first pitched to the nation.’
“Among other things, the story notes that ‘millions of low-income Americans won’t receive coverage’ and ‘and a growing number of workers won’t get to keep their employer-provided coverage.’
“And just yesterday, we heard that the District of Columbia’s exchange hit a huge bump in the road, just days before launch. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more stories of these types of problems popping up all across our country.
“Let’s talk about premiums too. A few weeks ago, one veteran at a town hall wanted to know how this law could possibly be free. Well, of course, it’s not free. He’s right. And premiums are part of that story. Based on the Administration’s own data, along with some intrepid reporting, here’s how much more a single 27-year old can expect to pay under Obamacare in Columbus, Ohio: 436% increase.
“In Charlotte, North Carolina it’s 523%.
“Little Rock? 613% more—613%!
“Imagine for a moment. You’re 27 and you’ve done everything right. You studied hard and graduated college. You’ve got student loan debt, car payments, car insurance payments, various utility bills, rent, renter’s insurance, 401(k) contributions. Health insurance, of course. Then there’s gas, food, and maybe, just maybe having a little bit of fun every once in a while.
“And then you lose your employer-sponsored health plan thanks to Obamacare. You get dumped into the exchanges. So jack up those monthly health insurance payments by 300…500… even 600 percent.
“What are you supposed to do now? Go uninsured and pay penalty taxes? Stop contributing to your retirement account? You can’t very well give up the car you need to get to your job, or food, or paying back your student loans.
“None of these is a good option, Mr. President. And they’re not good for society either.
“We shouldn’t be setting up disincentives for 27-year olds to insure themselves or contribute to their own retirement.
“But this is just the incentive structure that Obamacare creates. And when you consider how hard the Obama Economy has hammered Millennials already, it’s hardly fair to whack them again. Especially when so many are just barely hanging on as it is.
“So this law is a mess. It needs to go. It’s way past time to start over.
“And, as I’ve been saying all week, we need just five brave Democrats to join with us to make that happen.
“So I hope some of my Democrat friends who voted for this law will look themselves in the mirror and think – truly think – about whether protecting the President’s pride is really more important than helping the American people.
“Because we owe our constituents better than Obamacare, we can do better than this. And, with your help, we can do just that – with your help, we can start over with the kind of real, bipartisan reform that Kentuckians and Americans actually want.”