Ted Budd: “The cost of health insurance is on the minds of many Americans this summer, and it should be. Nearly half a million…”

“The cost of health insurance is on the minds of many Americans this summer, and it should be. Nearly half a million people in North Carolina buy their health insurance on the ObamaCare marketplace. The average price for these plans continues to go up each and every year. This wouldn't be as much of an issue if there were many options to choose from, but, unfortunately, there are not. Blue Cross, the only insurer that is still in all 100 counties in our State, announced that they were raising rates by an average of nearly 19 percent going into 2017. Then they raised them again this year by over 14 percent. I expect them to do the same next year, the year after that, and in coming years after that. It is clear to me that the individual mandate didn't actually lower the cost of health insurance, and bailing out big insurance companies certainly didn't help either. Mr. Speaker, as you know very well, we need an off-ramp from ObamaCare. We need a solution that allows for more competition, because competition drives down prices and allows people to purchase health insurance without going bankrupt.…”