Obamacare Continues to Hurt Middle Class Families
‘Middle class families have endured the broken promises and failures of Obamacare for far too long. It’s past time for Democrats to own up to the many disappointments of this law and help us move toward better health care policies for our country.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding the failures of Obamacare:
“It’s been six years since the flawed health care policies of Obamacare were signed into law. And six years later, my office continues to receive stories from Kentuckians who are reeling from the negative effects of this partisan law.
“Take for instance the heartbreaking story from one middle class husband and father of two from Covington who suffered a heart attack at the age of 42. Under Obamacare, this Kentucky dad has seen his health care premium triple and his deductible increase to, as he put it, a ‘ridiculous’ amount. He says he struggles to afford his medicine — which he says costs upwards of a thousand dollars a month — as he and his family struggle to survive ‘week to week.’
“Put simply, he says, Obamacare is a ‘terrible blight on the health care system’ that has resulted in more ‘expensive, watered down, unaffordable health care for the middle class.’
“Unfortunately, too many American families have had similar experiences under this Administration’s partisan law. Because from the start, this health care policy was built on a mountain of higher costs and broken promises, which only seem to grow larger by the day.
“When it comes to Obamacare, costs in the exchange are higher than its champions expected.
“A recent study found that Obamacare exchange individual market enrollees experienced higher medical costs than people insured through employer provided coverage – 19 percent higher in 2014 and 22 percent higher last year.
When it comes to Obamacare, it simply does not work like its champions promised either.
“As a result, we’ve seen increasing numbers of insurers pull out of the Obamacare marketplace altogether. Just last week, we learned that the nation’s largest health insurer will join the list, withdrawing from all but a ‘handful of states’ next year. Including Kentucky.
“What this means is that Americans in my home state and across much of the nation are likely to face even fewer health insurance options.
“According to one analysis, if this insurer withdrew from the exchange market altogether, nearly 2 million marketplace enrollees would be left with only two insurers while more than a million more would be left with only one. But fewer choices could also mean even higher premium costs. As one expert put it, ‘Either insurers will drop out or insurers will raise premiums.’
“This only adds to the many Kentuckians who've already seen their premiums spike under Obamacare. Like the retired police officer whose premium increased to nearly $5,000 a year, which he ‘simply cannot afford.’ Or the Kentuckian whose rate tripled, leaving him uninsured and forced to pay a fine at the end of the year.
“Not surprisingly, the insurance industry’s chief spokesperson — who is a former top Obama Administration official, by the way — is bracing the public for even more premium increases in the year to come. And the Administration’s answer? More money from taxpayers. Whether they call it a risk corridor, or a premium subsidy, or reinsurance mechanisms, the source is still the same…the American taxpayer.
“The bottom line is this: Americans continue to be unfairly hurt by a health care law that was forced on them through backroom deals and littered with broken promises.
“Too many have seen their premiums and deductibles skyrocket. Too many have suffered from tax increases and lost coverage. And now, too many are set to face even fewer choices and ‘significant price hikes’ in the year to come.
“Middle class families have endured the broken promises and failures of Obamacare for far too long. It’s past time for Democrats to own up to the many disappointments of this law and help us move toward better health care policies for our country.”
Related Issues: Obamacare, Middle Class, Health Care
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