James Lankford: “the Senate is talking a lot about healthcare right now for good reason. There are major cost increases going up on…”

“the Senate is talking a lot about healthcare right now for good reason. There are major cost increases going up on insurance all across the country but especially for some folks that are in ObamaCare Marketplace plans. I talked earlier this week with a gentleman from my State who is in his early sixties. He runs a small business, works his tail off. His insurance plan that he has taken on, he took on in the last few years because of the enhanced premium tax credit subsidies that were added in 2021. Those temporary tax gifts to insurance companies expire in just a few weeks. Now, he knew that they would expire. As he told me in our conversation we had this week, he said he knew they were temporary, but now he is trying to figure out what to do to find affordable healthcare options for himself because his healthcare is going to go up about $500 a month. That is an enormous amount. And his frustration was pretty clear. He is just looking for a plan that he can afford. He is just looking for an option. He is not asking for something unrealistic. He is just trying to figure out what to do. He asked me the question: How did we get here? How did this happen? Well, let me just walk through that because the interesting thing about all of this is how confusing it has really been in the process. Everyone that I talked to about healthcare, they all say: It is incredibly confusing. I can't figure out any of this.”