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Repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 3, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health Insurance

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, talk about fantasy. I think that it finds its root in
this comment from Jonathan Gruber, who was the architect of ObamaCare:

If you had a law which said that healthy people are going
to pay and sick people would get money, it would never have
passed. Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage.
Call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but
that was critical for the thing to pass.

Mr. Speaker, that is the fantasy on which this was based. It does not
work. It has driven up costs. Indeed, we know that 70 of our Democrat
colleagues have crossed the aisle and have voted with us to repeal
different provisions of this law because it does not work. It is not
making insurance more affordable. It is costing more.

One of my constituents is Emily. Her insurance was $57 a month before
ObamaCare. After ObamaCare, with the subsidies, it was $373 a month.
Another constituent, Jimmy, is saying he can't afford to offer the
benefits now because of the way ObamaCare has driven up the cost of
insurance. It is offer insurance or close his business. Those are the
choices. That is why we are here. It does not work, and it is time to
get this law off the books.

Yes, there are lots of ideas. Mr. Speaker, just for my colleagues to
know, at Energy and Commerce, we have over 100 bills that have been
filed that would repeal different provisions of this law, and we are
doing it because the American people have said, We are tired of this.
It is damaging health care. It is returning us to the day of the old
major medical when you had higher premiums, when you had higher out-of-pocket costs, and when you had fewer benefits.

Now, our colleagues across the aisle, Mr. Speaker, may say that those
are not suitable plans, but guess what? That is what ObamaCare plans
are becoming. It is time to get it off the books and restore choice and
option for the American people.

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