Health Care Reform

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, I wish to express my appreciation to Senator Boozman and Senator Thune for being down here this morning to talk about an issue that is extremely important and an issue we certainly are hearing a lot about in our Senate offices and hearing a lot about when we travel back to our home States; that is, the whole issue of ObamaCare.

The President, of course, mentioned this in his State of the Union last night, and I think he truly hopes he can change the subject here. But the reality is he cannot because so many people are being hurt by this legislation.

Over 4 years ago, when the health care law was being debated, there was one concern that dominated the discussion when we talked to our constituents back home. That concern was cost. They talked about the rising cost of health care and wanted to see what we thought in terms of this law's impact on that. But since this year's rates were posted, it has become absolutely obvious that this law did not hold true to its promise to reduce costs.

Our Nebraska insurance director was asked to comment about this when the rates were coming out. He said: "Basically, the rates are going up.'' No truer words could have been spoken.

A CNBC headline read: "Consumers say they're shelling out more for health insurance.''

But it is not just those headlines or the opinion of our director of insurance. It is what is happening to real people in their lives.

A father from just outside Omaha, NE, wrote a letter to me, and he said this: In 2013, his family's flexible spending account was cut from $5,000 a year to $2,500 a year as a result of the health care law.

If there was one thing people appreciated, it was the flexible spending account. Why you would want to cut this does not make any sense, but that is what the health care law did to him. He goes on to say that his wife's employer-sponsored insurance premiums have increased by an incredible 50 percent and their deductible and maximum out-of-pocket costs--well, they have not gone down--have gone up too, and these increases have been the worst they have seen in 14 years of employment, all due to the health care law.

His sons who are struggling to pay for college had their work hours restricted to 28 hours a week. Why? Because of the law. So as a result they are applying for more financial aid, they are going further in debt, and even taking on part-time jobs so they can stay in school.

But that is not the only person who has written to me. A Nebraskan from the south central part of the State reports this: He spent 27 hours trying to enroll on healthcare.gov only to find out he could not afford coverage, even with a premium subsidy. Under the best option, his deductible would increase by $7,000.

To a middle-class family, $7,000 out of pocket is bankruptcy. They do not have it. It is not like that money is going to fall out of the sky.

A young traveling nurse from northeastern Nebraska also faced sticker shock and reached out to me. Under a new plan, her premium more than doubled and her deductible went from $3,500 to $6,500. She wrote to me and said: "This is not affordable when I have student loans to pay for and I'm trying to support myself.''

It is possible some Nebraskans have temporarily renewed their old policy under the delay that was announced by the President, but that just means they have delayed the pain until next year, and we will see more of these stories of skyrocketing costs and deductibles.

Let's face it. Americans did not get what they were promised when the law was passed. They expected a bill that would deliver on the promises and address the cost of health care. Instead, they are stuck with the very real consequences of a poorly crafted policy.

I think it is time we show Americans we can do better. I believe the place to start is to repeal the law and start working on step-by-step solutions that draw down health care costs for American families.

Those of us on the floor today are ready to tackle the challenge. I hope we find willing partners.

I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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