Political Quotes

“I appreciate all of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle who will be joining us here this afternoon and thank them for their leadership on our legislation and for taking the time to speak today. We are now exactly 1 week into open enrollment, and it has been 3 weeks since Chairman Alexander and I put forward a bipartisan bill to stabilize our healthcare markets and lower patients' healthcare costs. So I wanted to come this afternoon to talk for a few minutes about what it means that so many people nationwide are signing up for coverage and why there is no good reason for Republican leadership to wait another minute before bringing up our bill for a vote. It is still early, but what we are seeing so far is that millions of people across our country are going to healthcare.gov to shop for coverage. Some 200,000 signed up on the first day. That is more than double the amount from last year. The vast majority will get tax credits to help cover their costs. In fact, some who are struggling the most will find they can save even more this year because of how our current healthcare system absorbs cost increases. But there is no question that premiums are going up in many places and that fewer coverage options are available and not every consumer is protected. One woman--Melissa--told the Washington Post this week that she is ``joining the ranks of the uninsured'' for the first time in her life as a 51-year-old.…”