Thursday, March 17, 2011

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Floor Statement on Medical Waivers
Remarks as Delivered on the Senate Floor

Madam President, there is a pending amendment by Senator Hutchison dealing with medical waivers, which prompts me to come to the floor for a minute and talk about that issue as it affects Georgia today, and in particular to talk about it in the context of what our Governor and legislature are having to deal with right now in terms of the mandates of the health care bill signed on March 23 of last year by President Obama.

In fact, on the signing of that bill, there were a couple of statements made, reflecting back on that long debate, and I want to repeat them right now. One was made by Speaker Pelosi, saying about a month before the House passed the health care bill, that you had to pass it to find out what is in it. That was a funny statement at the time, but it became prophetic as we are beginning to discover over and over the unintended consequences of the legislation on our States and on medicine.

Secondly, Vice President Biden declared the magnitude of the impact of the health care bill. That magnitude is turning out to be higher cost, less benefit, and more regulation on our States.

In particular, I want to bring two points up to talk about why this whole issue of medical waivers is so important. Our insurance commissioner, Ralph Hudgens, has submitted to CMS for a waiver on the medical cost-benefit rule in terms of benefits paid on policies, taking it up to 85 percent. That mandate in the health care bill is going to force not better coverage but less coverage by our insurance companies in Georgia because they will leave when they cannot meet it.

It is the intention to regulate the amount of benefits paid. But the application means companies that can't meet it by the time set in the bill will leave the State. So instead, you will have less of what was promised rather than more. You will have less available choice and more people forced to a single-payer system in the government operated through an exchange.

This prompts me to talk about the second issue going on in Georgia. Our newly elected Governor, Governor Nathan Deal, is trying to deal with a mandate on setting up the State exchange that will be available to operate by 2014, in a period of time where the public wants no part of the national health care bill and wants to wait on a Supreme Court ruling on June Vinson's opinion from Florida.

I come to the floor to say these medical waivers are important. States are having to ask for them because of the impact of the overall health care bill that was signed on March 23 of last year. If some relief doesn't come, we are going to have some cataclysmic events. One will be the impact on employees and small businesses, which is what this bill is all about.

I ran a small business. I had independent contractors for whom under ERISA you could not provide health insurance. I tried my best to get this Congress and this President to consider an associated benefit program approval so we could have people, such as those in my profession, assemble together and form large risk pools so they could compete for insurance, the same as major companies and States do. That was rejected instead for an exchange and for a simple system that says small businesses must provide health insurance to their employees, but if they do not provide it, they will pay a modest fine that is much less than the cost of the insurance. That one statement and rule alone forces people in small business to leave health care coverage from an insurance carrier, getting it through their employer, and instead they are forced to go to a government exchange where choice is limited and mandates are many.

I want to commend the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the Small Business Committee for the effort they are making on this bill, but also commend Senator Hutchison on the importance of considering the volume of these waivers being filed; why are they being filed, and are they an early warning for what will happen to us when this bill goes into effect if we don't take the ObamaCare legislation and commit drastic surgery or, better yet, start over and build a system that works, where we have the private delivery of health care and a minimum of government interference.

I thank very much the chairman for giving me the time to speak.