Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Wyden for his leadership on this issue and so many issues, his position as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. He serves this body very well, and he has done that today in outlining the flaw of the healthcare bill that was presented a week ago by the Republican leadership and what it would do to our healthcare system. I want to acknowledge that I am very proud that I was in the Congress when we passed the Affordable Care Act. Today, millions of Americans have coverage who didn't have coverage prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. I am also proud about the quality of that coverage. That coverage has guaranteed benefits so that individuals know they will be covered for their needs--no preexisting conditions, no caps. It is affordable, and we made sure it was affordable to the people of this Nation. I have listened to the debate from some of my Republican colleagues about how the Affordable Care Act is collapsing under its own weight. Nothing could be further from the truth. The problems we are experiencing with high increases in the individual marketplace are caused in part by the actions of the Trump administration to try to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Let me give an example in my own State of Maryland, where CareFirst-- the largest carrier in the individual marketplace--sought about a 50- percent increase in individual rates, and they were very direct.…”