Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to the Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations package, which strikes all guidance related to the obligation of funds for the Affordable Care Act's navigator program. By passing this amendment, we can prevent further wasteful spending on this failed and very inefficient program. For plan year 2017, navigators received a total of $62.5 million in grants and enrolled 81,000 individuals. Each of these enrollments cost taxpayers $767. Further, those 81,000 individuals accounted for less than 1 percent of all the enrollment in ACA plans for that year. Arkansas does not use the Federal marketplace, but I think it is worth noting that according to CMS, only 2.3 percent of the people in my district purchased their healthcare on the exchange in 2017. Nationwide, less than 4 percent of the population bought Affordable Care Act plans. With a little bit of math, we come to the conclusion that we are spending $62.5 million to enroll less than three-tenths of 1 percent of the population. The administration wisely decided that this money could be better spent elsewhere and cut funding for the program to a more reasonable level of $10 million. Yet for some reason, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would like to force the administration to spend $100 million on this, in my view, wasteful and ineffective program. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time. Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition.…”