{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=B9F64608-44E9-43E5-BBD3-B268913147C0", "Alexander: Voters Expect New Congress, President to Fix Obamacare Emergency and Stop Washington from Telling Them What To Do", "2016-11-10", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Lamar Alexander", "A000360", "www.alexander.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Nov. 10, 2016 \u2013\u00a0U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today\u00a0told members of the Chattanooga\u00a0Rotary that the results of Tuesday\u2019s election should mean \u201cless Washington involvement in telling us what to do in our everyday lives\u201d and an opportunity to fix the \u201cObamacare emergency.\u201d\u00a0\r\nAlexander said, \"A\u00a0Republican president, working with a Republican Congress, could reduce Washington\u2019s involvement in our lives and solve some of the problems that were the source of voters\u2019 frustration.\u00a0I think American voters expect that President-elect Trump and Congress will get to work quickly on fixing the Obamacare emergency\u00a0\u2013 providing immediate relief to Tennesseans paying 44 to 62 percent more in health insurance premiums \u2013 and then repealing and replacing Obamacare with step by step solutions that give states more flexibility and individuals more choices to buy private health insurance that meets their families\u2019 healthcare needs and budgets.\"\r\nIn August, Tennessee\u2019s insurance commissioner described the state\u2019s Obamacare exchange as \u201cvery near collapse,\u201d as some insurers exit the state and others raise their rates by some of the highest amounts in the nation\u2014as much as 62 percent next year. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, the state\u2019s largest health insurer, in September announced it would no longer sell individual insurance policies in Knoxville, Nashville or Memphis, impacting 131,000 Tennesseans. This follows United Health Group's announcement earlier this year that it would no longer offer Obamacare exchange health plans in Tennessee for the 2017 plan year. There are currently 41,000 individuals in the state currently covered by these United Health Group\u00a0plans. This\u00a0 is in addition to the\u00a027,000\u00a0Tennesseans who lost their Community Health\u00a0Alliance health\u00a0plan when the co-op collapsed in 2015.\u00a0\r\nA majority of Tennesseans on the exchange will need to find new plans next year. In 73 out of all 95 Tennessee counties,\u00a0individuals will have only one insurer to choose from when buying health insurance on the Obamacare exchange\u00a0for 2017.\u00a0In 2016, every county had the choice of at least 2 insurers on the Obamacare exchanges.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe Obamacare exchanges are collapsing in Tennessee and across the country because of federal mandates, a lack of flexibility for states and\u00a0fewer choices for families,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cIn most of our counties, people only have one choice\u00a0\u2013\u00a0we need to give more people more choices.\"\u00a0\r\nIn September, Alexander\u00a0introduced emergency, one-year legislation that\u00a0would have given\u00a0states with\u00a0failing Obamacare exchanges\u00a0the authority to allow Americans who rely on Obamacare subsidies to buy any health plan they want, even if they purchase it outside of an Obamacare exchange. The legislation would also waive Obamacare's individual mandate, so Americans would no longer be penalized for not purchasing a federal government-approved health plan.\r\nDemocrats did not support the legislation and instead announced support for creating a government-run health plan, or \u201cpublic option.\"\r\n\"Democrats propose even more federal control, but the\u00a0right prescription is not more of what caused the disease.\u00a0We need to repeal and replace Obamacare with\u00a0step-by-step\u00a0solutions that\u00a0give states more flexibility and individuals more choices to buy private health\u00a0insurance that meets their families\u2019 health care needs and budgets.\u201d\r\nAlexander told the\u00a0Chattanooga Rotary today that in addition to the risk of losing their current insurer, many Tennesseans also at risk of losing their current doctors.\u00a0 The doctors at the state\u2019s top hospital-- Vanderbilt University Medical Center-- were considered \u201cin network providers\u201d for Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Health Group plans in 2016. With the exit of these plans from many or all exchanges in Tennessee, it is anticipated that in at least Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis, none of the remaining health plans will have network agreements with Vanderbilt University health care providers in 2017.\r\nThis means thousands of Tennesseans buying plans on the exchange either have to pay more in \"out of network provider\"\u00a0fees when they seek the same care at Vanderbilt University or they will be unable to have their care covered by their new insurance plan\u00a0altogether.\r\nAlexander said he hoped the president-elect\u00a0would review the regulations on healthcare in addition to education and labor that President Obama has put out exceeding legal authority and\u00a0either repeal them, not enforce them or change them.\r\nAlexander also talked about the importance of rebuilding\u00a0the nation\u2019s infrastructure, something the president-elect has said is a priority.\u00a0\r\n\u201cWe badly need a long-term, big time plan for how to get from one place to another. Everyone is talking about it including President-elect Trump and Gov. Haslam,\u201d the senator said. \u201cI hope the president will take a look at this opportunity for a big infrastructure plan for roads and bridges to keep America moving.\u201d\r\nAlexander mentioned the importance of maintaining infrastructure in Tennessee, including inland waterways, harbors, highways and transit systems.\u00a0\r\n###\r\nFor access to this release and the senator\u2019s other statements, click here.\r\nTo stay up-to-date on the senator\u2019s latest actions, follow him on Twitter and YouTube.", 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://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=B9F64608-44E9-43E5-BBD3-B268913147C0"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7860939260572195, "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"}