Roy Blunt: “I join my colleagues here to talk about some of the stories we are hearing from the people we work for. I have been to…”

“I join my colleagues here to talk about some of the stories we are hearing from the people we work for. I have been to the floor many times talking about the stories we are getting from families, from moms, from people trying to get that first job, from people who suddenly are no longer working the 40 hours they used to work because of the impact this has had on the 40-hour workweek. Let me mention, as I am here between Senator Boozman and Senator Johanns, just two recent contacts we have had. We have had one from Joanne in Fulton, MO. She said her premiums went up from $110 a month to $311 a month--an increase of $201 a month. She said: Our monthly premium has gone up to $311 a month. It is a large increase for us--it is nearly triple of what we paid before my husband's retirement. It really takes a bite out of our budget. She believes this would not have happened without what is happening in our health care system. I had a list of employees from one of our counties in Missouri the other day. Because it is a small county, they rate their employees. Each one of them pays a different premium, even though the county helps some with that premium. Everybody who is over 50 had their premium--that is going to be the premium next year--at least doubled. If you were 19, 20, 21, your premium was about what it had been the year before. If you were 51 or 61, your premium was twice what it had been before.…”