{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=679e9e1f-3a3c-45f6-8fae-68525f467d62", "McConnell: Kentuckians Upset about Higher Costs, Fewer Options under Obamacare", "2013-12-16", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor\u00a0regarding the consequences of Obamacare on consumers:\r\n\u201cA few weeks ago, the Obama Administration declared that it had met its goals for fixing the Obamacare website.\r\n\u201cAnd with the web site fixed, they led us to assume that Obamacare was \u2018fixed\u2019 as well.\r\n\u201cBut that was never true. As I\u2019ve been saying all along, the problems here are much bigger than a website.\r\n\u201cAnd even the administration\u2019s claims about the Web site have been greatly exaggerated.\r\n\u201cRecent news reports suggest that many Americans who thought they\u2019d enrolled on the exchanges will find out that they do not, in fact, have coverage on January 1st, largely as a result of lingering problems with the site.\r\n\u201cBut an even bigger problem lies with the coverage options folks are finding if they actually make it through the website.\r\n\u201cFor the folks patient enough to successfully navigate through Healthcare.gov, many are finding that Obamacare offers higher premiums, costs, or deductibles \u2013 sometimes all three \u2013 in exchange for coverage that\u2019s in many cases inferior to what they had before.\r\n\u201cFewer choices, restricted hospital networks, losing doctors our constituents know and trust.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s what many are getting in exchange for higher costs and skyrocketing premiums, even after the President promised that reform would \u2018cut costs and make coverage more affordable for families and small businesses.\u2019\r\n\u201cDespite the President\u2019s serial pledges to the contrary, the government\u2019s own studies on this issue now indicate that Obamacare will actually increase the cost of health care in America by more than $620 billion.\r\n\u201cAs one California woman recently put it, Obamacare feels like being \u2018forced into a lower coverage plan, for more money.\u2019\r\n\u201cMany Kentuckians feel the same way.\r\n\u201cGiselle Martino is a constituent of mine from Prospect, Kentucky.\r\n\u201cHere\u2019s what she recently wrote to me after losing her coverage:\r\n\u2018I paid a very high premium to have a major medical plan. I am now forced into the exchange for a lesser plan with more exclusions and higher deductibles. I will most likely never reach those deductibles. How does this help me? I'm basically paying into the plan for the others. If I must pay for my higher tier heart drugs anyway, why should I bother with the health plan? What a disappointment this administration has caused.\u2019\r\n\u201cHigher costs and less care: that\u2019s what Obamacare means for Giselle Martino.\r\n\u201cObamacare\u2019s been a disappointment for Mike Conn from Prestonsburg too.\r\n\u201cHere\u2019s what he had to say about this law:\r\n\u2018A policy that has similar coverage to what we had would cost us around $1100 a month. [That] is a 100% increase for me and my wife. I was informed by the individual that was helping me find coverage that it was because we live in eastern Kentucky.\u2019\r\n\u201cMike says his plan is no longer available in that part of the state. And now he\u2019s evidently facing a 100% increase in cost because of where he lives.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s not fair. Mike and Giselle both have every right to be upset.\r\n\u201cBut that\u2019s the reality of Obamacare for too many Kentuckians \u2013 a state where 280,000 have already lost the coverage they had because of this law. It\u2019s a reality facing millions of Americans across the country. And when the White House was asked today if they were confident that those millions of Americans with cancelled policies would be able to sign up for new insurance before January 1st, they couldn\u2019t give a straight answer.\r\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s why Republicans are going to maintain our focus where it belongs \u2013 on the people we represent on the issues that truly matter to them. Because our constituents understand that Obamacare is about so much more than a website.\r\n\u201cThe Administration needs to start understanding that too.\r\n\u201cFixing a few lines of code isn\u2019t going to help people keep the plans they like \u2013 plans that work for their families.\r\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t going to help our constituents afford the law\u2019s exorbitant premiums and deductibles.\r\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t going to help our constituents cope with fewer choices and lower quality of care.\r\n\u201cThese are the things that actually matter to the middle class.\r\n\u201cSo the Administration and its allies in Congress can talk until they\u2019re hoarse about a website, or about nominees, or about whatever else they think they can say to distract Americans from the failures of this law.\r\n\u201cBut it isn\u2019t going to work.\r\n\u201cAnd to the millions of Americans suffering under Obamacare, you should know that Republicans are on your side.\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep fighting for true health reform that lowers costs, for reform that promotes choice and a better quality of care. And we\u2019re going to keep fighting against the idea that government knows better than you do when it comes to your family\u2019s health care. That\u2019s what our constituents expect of us. I know it\u2019s what Kentuckians expect.\r\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s just what Republicans are going to continue to do.\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.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=679e9e1f-3a3c-45f6-8fae-68525f467d62"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9428421035408974, "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"}