{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://harshbarger.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-real-healthcare-reform-harshbarger-votes-yes", "House Passes Real Healthcare Reform, Harshbarger Votes Yes", "2025-12-17", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Diana Harshbarger", "H001086", "harshbarger.house.gov", "harshbarger", "https://harshbarger.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) today applauded passage of the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, a major Republican-led effort to lower premiums, expand choice, and address the structural failures that have caused the health care marketplace to deteriorate.\n\n\u201cAs premiums keep climbing thanks to the Unaffordable Care Act, Democrats continue defending a broken status quo that has failed working families,\u201d said Congresswoman Harshbarger. \u201cRepublicans are advancing real reforms that finally lower premiums, expand choice, increase flexibility for small businesses, and save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. Democrats want to pour more money into a failed system they created; we\u2019re fixing the root causes of rising costs. Our goals are simple: restore choice, lower premiums, strengthen program integrity, and build a health care system that actually works for every American.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nFor years, Democrats have pushed a government-driven, one-size-fits-all health care model built on mandates, subsidies, and bureaucracy. That approach has failed working families and small businesses. Premiums have soared and big insurers have profited enormously, with revenues jumping from $245 billion when Obamacare passed to $1.4 trillion in 2023, while a GAO investigation found NEARLY 100%of fictitious applicants were approved for subsidies, exposing significant waste and fraud.\n\nThe Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act delivers lower costs by reducing premiums, expanding choice, and empowering workers, families, and small businesses.\n\nCracks down on pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) middle-men, requiring transparency to help employers negotiate lower drug prices \u2014 saving taxpayers $1.9 billion.\n\nEnds \u201csilver loading\u201d and funds Cost Sharing Reductions (CSR), reducing ACA premiums by 11% (twice the reduction of Democrats\u2019 temporary COVID subsidies), saving patients up to $1,871 per year and taxpayers $36.7 billion.\n\nExpands Association Health Plans, allowing small businesses and self-employed workers to band together, cutting premiums by up to 30%.\n\nProtects employer-sponsored insurance, including access to stop-loss insurance so small businesses can manage high-cost claims.\n\nStrengthens CHOICE Arrangements, enabling employers to offer flexible, tax-advantaged benefits \u2014 83% of participating employers are offering health coverage for the first time.\n\nThese reforms target the root causes of rising premiums instead of pouring more money into the failure that is the Unaffordable Care Act.", 1, "2026-05-01T06:06:26Z", "2026-05-01T06:08:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://harshbarger.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-real-healthcare-reform-harshbarger-votes-yes"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8967211470007896, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}