Political Quotes

“Madam President, I understood that the Senator from Ohio was seeking consent to speak after me. I would like to take a few minutes this morning to speak about how the Affordable Care Act is harming the people of the State of Alaska. This Senator has come to the floor a lot to talk about the fact that we in the State of Alaska have the highest insurance premiums. Well, again, we have the highest insurance premiums in the country. Believe me, I am hearing from folks back home all the time about the burden that these costs place on them. Our State's largest newspaper has been reporting, as we have seen these premium increases coming out over these past several months--they have been detailing the incredible rise of premiums throughout the State. The average monthly premium for a single 40-year-old in the State of Alaska is now over $700 a month--$700 a month for the average single 40-year-old--more than double the national average. People are paying thousands of dollars each month to insure their families. The insurance premium costs have gone up somewhere between 25 percent to 40 percent each year. How do you budget for that? A family of three in Ketchikan--I got the information from them--are going to be paying almost $2,000 a month next year for one of the cheapest bronze plans available. This is a family of three paying for one of the cheapest plans, and they are going to be paying $2,000 a month. This plan comes with a $10,500 deductible. Heck of a deal.…”