{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140307024611/http://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=098b4bab-73df-4565-aed7-1897194cb8ee", "Alexander: Obamacare \u201cDelivering an Unwelcome Christmas Present to Tennesseans\u201d", "2013-12-23", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Lamar Alexander", "A000360", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "December 23 2013  - \nSays 82,000 Tennesseans are on track to lose individual insurance because \u201cplans have been outlawed,\u201d many others to see increasing costs under Obamacare\n***\n\u201cBetween putting many health insurance plans on the naughty list, and increasing health insurance costs for many families, Obamacare\u2019s mandates are delivering an unwelcome Christmas present to Tennesseans.\u201d \u2013 Lamar Alexander\nMARYVILLE, Dec. 24 \u2013 U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today said that at least 82,000 Tennesseans are on track to lose their individual health insurance Jan. 1, one of the many ways that the \u201chistoric mistake\u201d of Obamacare is reducing choices and driving up insurance costs over the holiday season.\n\u201cAt least 82,000 Tennesseans will begin to lose their individual health insurance policies starting Jan. 1 because their plans have been outlawed under Obamacare,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cBetween putting many health insurance plans on the naughty list, and increasing health insurance costs for many families, Obamacare\u2019s mandates are delivering an unwelcome Christmas present to Tennesseans.\u201d\nAlexander outlined several ways that Obamacare has led to fewer choices and higher costs for Tennesseans. The Obama administration recently acknowledged this by announcing that it would allow Americans unable to replace their canceled health care plans to instead purchase \u201ccatastrophic\u201d coverage.\u00a0\nAlexander said of that Dec. 19 announcement, \u201cRepublicans have suggested that to provide health coverage for more Americans, everyone should have the opportunity to buy affordable catastrophic insurance as part of a private-sector plan to create more competition, offer more choices, and lower costs. This is a completely different approach and would have been a better path than Obamacare. It was suggested by Republicans \u2013 and ridiculed by the president \u2013 at the 2010 White House health care summit.\u201d\nThe 82,000 Tennesseans who will begin to lose their individual health insurance plans starting Jan. 1 \u2013 despite the president\u2019s promise that \u201cIf you like your health insurance, you can keep it\u201d \u2013 include:\n \n\u2022 66,000 Tennesseans who will lose their BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee coverage because many plans do not meet Obamacare mandates.\n\u2022 16,000 Tennesseans who are losing their plans through CoverTN, a state-run health insurance program with plans that have been outlawed under Obamacare.\u00a0\n \nMany Tennesseans are also experiencing \u201crate shock,\u201d as their plans become more expensive or they are forced to find new individual health insurance policies in the private market or on Obamacare exchanges, Alexander said. For example:\n \n\u2022 In 2013 in Nashville, a 27-year old woman can choose from 30 insurance plans that cost less than the administration says insurance plans on the exchanges will cost, even with the new tax subsidy.\n\u2022 Also in 2013 in Nashville, a 27-year-old woman can buy a plan for as low as $58 a month.\u00a0 On the exchange, the lowest-priced plan in Nashville is $114 a month\u2014a 97 percent increase.\u00a0 Even with a tax subsidy if she made $25,000 a year, that plan would cost her $104 a month.\n\u2022 In 2013 in Memphis, a 27-year-old man in Memphis can buy a private insurance plan for as low as $41 a month.\u00a0 On the exchange, the lowest state average is $119 a month\u2014a 190 percent increase. Even with a tax subsidy if he made $25,000 a year, that plan would cost him $109 a month.\u00a0\n \n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://web.archive.org/web/20140307024611/http://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=098b4bab-73df-4565-aed7-1897194cb8ee"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4145229943096638, "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"}