{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=A2862166-4A6B-4EC3-97B6-367A42FFF434", "Wyoming suffers as the true cost of Obamacare is revealed", "2016-09-15", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "WY", "Michael Enzi", "E000285", "www.enzi.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In Wyoming and across the country the true face of Obamacare is revealing itself as health care prices soar and competition within the health insurance industry vanishes, according to U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. \r\nEnzi took to the Senate floor today to lament how Wyoming, and a growing number of states, are hurting as they are left with only one insurer available on the Obamacare exchanges.\r\n\u201cUnder Obamacare, Wyoming has seen one of our two carriers shut down by costs,\u201d Enzi said. \u201cLike other insurers across the country, this company focused on and dominated the Wyoming Obamacare exchange in the first year, and then the economics of Obamacare took hold \u2013 patients were more costly than expected, premium rates don\u2019t quite cover medical expenses, and then\u2026 insolvency.\u201d\r\nEnzi voiced his concerns for the small business owners in Wyoming and around the nation who are trying to figure out how to stay afloat as the prospect of providing health insurance for their employees becomes more and more difficult as costs rise.\r\n\u201cSo many small businesses, even though they aren\u2019t technically required to buy Obamacare, try to offer help to their employees for health care,\u201d Enzi said. \u201cThey do it because their employees need it, they feel like it\u2019s their responsibility, it also may be a competitive advantage.\u00a0 But in today\u2019s health insurance market, they face the Obamacare combination of limited choice and seemingly limitless premium increases.\u201d\r\nEnzi urged his colleagues and the president to look at this issue honestly and recognize the need for real change. According to Enzi, we need to go beyond simply providing short-term relief like the president\u2019s waivers, exceptions and delays and provide long-term, comprehensive changes that will lead us to sustained recovery.\u00a0\r\n\u201cI have been working to find a path forward that will give more flexibility to states, fewer restrictions for how employers help their employees with medical expenses and to find practical ways to offer more choices and lower costs for getting the health care that Wyomingites and all Americans should be able to access,\u201d Enzi said. \u201cWe need meaningful, comprehensive change in health care that will take us away from Obamacare, and in a new direction.\u201d", 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.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=A2862166-4A6B-4EC3-97B6-367A42FFF434"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2603411450982094, "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"}