On the recordSeptember 27, 2016
I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his work on this issue. I think we have to go back in history a little bit on this. ObamaCare was passed into law, signed into law, in 2010. A part of that law, by the way, we had to wait until it passed so we could read it and find out what all was in it established this CO-OP program. The way the law was written, it allowed CMS to go in and put in place the terms of the loans for the CO-OP program. Now, our colleague from Washington said it was the fault of Congress. I want to remind you that we did not do the loan terms that have been so onerous. That was done through the rulemaking process by CMS. The way they set this up put the CO-OPs at a disadvantage from the start. As a result of this, we are seeing these plan failures. This is a mandate that is crumbling under its own weight, the weight of the mandate, coupled with the way CMS has handled the terms of these loans. Now, the Energy and Commerce Committee, where I serve as vice chair, had released a report earlier this month looking at the failures of these CO-OPs and the investigation that we have had on this. The report reviewed CMS' mismanagement of this program. Closures of these CO-OPs have left consumers scrambling for health insurance. It gives them fewer options. It provides them with less affordable choices. So the Affordable Care Act becomes unaffordable for millions of Americans. Eight million of that 20 million had insurance from their employer.…
