Thune Sets the Record Straight on Democrats’ Health Care Spin
“The business model that we’re operating under today was created by the Democrats, and now there’s some expectation that somehow the Republicans are supposed to come here and fix the problem that they created.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):
“Mr. President, the Democrat leader was just talking about health care, and obviously there’s been a lot of conversation around that here these past few weeks and months.
“In fact, the Democrats shut down the government for 43 days, the longest shutdown in history, allegedly over health care – although I think we all know that it was Trump Derangement Syndrome, more than anything else, that led to the government shutdown.
“But I would just say … sometimes you have to kind of take a walk down memory lane to remind people that facts are stubborn things.
“And facts are stubborn things.
“The Democrat leader implied that Republicans are not interested in lowering health care costs, and that somehow [Democrats] are.
“The contrary is actually the truth.
“If you look at what has happened since the Obamacare exchanges went live over 10 years ago, health care premiums on the exchanges have gone up, on average, 221 percent.
“221 percent increase, Mr. President, in health care premiums in the individual marketplace on the Obamacare exchanges.
“Now, you might ask, why is that?
“There are a lot of reasons behind it.
“When they put the law into place in the first place, it was flawed structurally.
“But then he referred to these so-called Biden COVID bonuses, which were the enhancements that the Democrats now want to lock into place.
“Now remember, this was done in 2021 with a Democrat majority, Democrat in the White House, under reconciliation – so there wasn’t a single Republican who voted for these enhancements in the first place.
“But remember, they were enhancements designed to be responsive to the pandemic.
“They were COVID bonuses, only supposed to be temporary.
“And then in 2022 they extended them again and set them up to expire at the end of this year.
“This is a problem of Democrats’ making, Mr. President, pure and simple.
“And so to suggest for a moment that Republicans somehow aren’t interested in lowering health care costs when, in fact, it’s Democrat policies that have led to the run-up, the rampant increase, 221 percent increase in premiums since the exchanges went live over 10 years ago?
“You find me anything else in our economy that’s seen that kind of an increase over that same time period, Mr. President.
“That’s a staggering increase.
“And the Biden COVID bonuses that were enacted with all Democrat votes in 2021, and then extended again in 2022, and are set to expire at the end of this year, were, again, designed to be a response to a COVID emergency which no longer exists.
“So what has happened?
“They locked in the Biden COVID bonuses that are set to expire at the end of this year, and they expect Republicans now to bail them out.
“Well, frankly, Mr. President, Republicans are interested in things that will drive down and lower health care costs.
“The other thing they did in 2022, which is sort of interesting, is that the base Obamacare policies covered people up to 400 percent of the poverty level.
“Well, today that’s about, for a family of four, $128,000.
“So in the exchanges, you could get coverage, and if your health care insurance premiums, you had a certain percentage of your income, anything above and beyond that was covered by a government subsidy.
“And that is, in fact, the way that it worked prior to 2021.
“The Biden COVID bonuses took that cap off, Mr. President.
“There is no cap.
“No cap!
“And so now you have people making $500,000, $600,000 a year who are getting subsidies from the federal government to buy insurance.
“The other thing they did, Mr. President … there’s what’s called zero-dollar policies, or zero-dollar premiums.
“In other words, there are people out there who pay nothing for coverage.
“Their coverage is entirely covered by the federal government through the subsidy.
“Well, what that’s done, and because the way the program’s structured – they structured it – is to provide the subsidies directly to insurance companies.
“This is called, falsely, a premium tax credit.
“It is not a tax credit.
“A tax credit would be something that would lower tax liability, dollar for dollar, when you file your income taxes.
“This is a subsidy, a direct subsidy.
“And so you have literally millions of people – millions of people, Mr. President – who have no idea they’re covered, because they aren’t paying anything for it.
“And the insurance companies are getting the payment.
“So the insurance companies are incentivized to go out and auto-enroll all these people across the country.
“And so what you have today are literally millions of people, of the 23 to 24 million people who get their coverage in the exchanges, millions of those have no idea that they are even covered.
“Because the insurance company is getting the subsidy, auto-enrolling them, which might explain why, last year, 40 percent of the people who get their insurance coverage through the exchanges didn’t file a claim.
“Now, you could say maybe they’re healthy, maybe they’re younger – that’s all partially true.
“But do you think 40 percent of the people in the exchanges didn’t file a claim?
“I mean, think about that.
“That means there are literally millions of people out there, millions of people who don’t know they have coverage, and the insurance companies are getting the payments and making bank at the expense of everybody else in this country.
“And those who are paying premiums [are] seeing those premiums go up, as I said, 221 percent since these exchanges went live 10 years ago.
“So Mr. President, this is not something the Republicans – they say, they blame the Republicans for the health care crisis.
“The health care crisis was created by Democrats with all Democrat votes in 2021, and then again in 2022!
“Setting them up to expire at the end of this year, and with no income limits and zero-dollar premiums and the subsidies going directly to the insurance companies instead of into the pockets of the American people.
“Now, there is a way better way to do this, but it’s going to take cooperation from both sides to do that.
“And it seems to me, at least, Mr. President, what the Democrats would rather have than a solution is an issue.
“They want a political issue, and they want to blame Republicans.
“But you have to come back to the basic premise that facts are stubborn things.
“These are the facts.
“2021, these Biden COVID bonuses went into effect, lifted the cap, so no longer, there’s no cap.
“So you can get, you know, unlimited amounts of income and still get coverage in the exchanges.
“Zero-dollar premiums, so some people are … paying nothing, they’re paying nothing for their health insurance premiums.
“And insurance companies who are incentivized to auto-enroll those very people; in many cases, those people have no idea they’re covered.
“That’s a … pretty amazing contraption, if you will – and, some would argue, scam – on behalf of the insurance companies in this country, but certainly to the detriment of the American people, who do need more affordable coverage.
“They need to be able to afford health care along with the other things that they buy on a daily basis.
“And people need access to health care in this country, Mr. President, and they need affordability when it comes to health care in this country.
“And so I would say, Mr. President, that there is a path forward here.
“It can’t happen unless there are significant reforms, because you can’t have people who are making unlimited amounts of money being able to qualify for government subsidies in these exchanges.
“Nor should you have, in my view, people who pay absolutely nothing, not one dollar – not one dollar – for coverage, getting coverage, and insurance companies being incentivized, because they get a subsidy for doing it, to cover these very people who don’t even know they’re covered.
“That is a really, really bizarre business model.
“I mean, you couldn’t make this stuff up.
“And now Democrats are saying, ‘Oh, we created this, but it’s your problem. Please, please fix it. Or, if you don’t – if you don’t do something that will extend this program that has costs, premiums that continue to go up like this for the American people – we will use it against you in a political campaign, as a political issue.’
“That is the state of play right now, Mr. President, which is why we need a solution – and a solution that brings us back to where the American people have options.
“Where there are some sort of income limits.
“Where there are people at least paying something for their coverage.
“Where the insurance companies aren’t being enriched at the expense of the American people.
“Where the American people have choices and options to get the plan that they want that works for them and for their families.
“That’s a business model that works – competition, optionality, market forces, driving down prices, giving the American people more choices to buy the insurance they want at a price that they can afford.
“That, Mr. President, is a business model.
“The business model that we’re operating under today was created by the Democrats, and now there’s some expectation that somehow the Republicans are supposed to come here and fix the problem that they created.”
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