OPINION:
I’m a doctor. I practiced medicine in Wyoming for 24 years. I know what affordable, reliable, quality local care means for our communities. Rural providers are lifelines. That is why I have continually supported policies that improve the lives of patients and providers.
In September, I attended the grand opening of a new hospital in Pinedale, Wyo. Prior to its opening, the nearest hospital was 85 miles away through a mountain pass. Another was more than 100 miles away. This hospital will save lives. It will also help patients get the care they need sooner.
Regrettably, many other counties in America are not as fortunate as the people of Pinedale. Since Obamacare became law fifteen years ago, over 100 rural hospitals have closed. Hundreds more are at risk of closing due to the impact of the law.
Rural hospitals all across America are in trouble. To address this crisis of care, Republicans created the $50 billion Rural Hospital Fund. That is the single largest federal investment in rural healthcare in American history. We included it in our Working Families Tax Cuts bill, which became law in July.
The $50 billion fund provides real relief for rural hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers. It makes our healthcare system stronger and protects care where it is needed most.
You would think this commonsense solution would have bipartisan support. That is not the case. Democrats in the Senate have universally opposed the Rural Healthcare Fund. Every single Democrat voted against it. They have introduced legislation to repeal it. Senator Chuck Schumer even tried to cut that $50 billion for vulnerable rural hospitals as part of the Democrats’ ransom note to reopen the government.
Democrats are determined to make our healthcare system weaker for those who need it most. Democrats do not seem to care about the rural communities in their states or across the country.
Instead, Democrats would rather give free healthcare to illegal immigrants. They want to spend $350 billion to prop up the failure that is Obamacare. Those were some of the demands by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats during the shutdown. If Democrats had their way, the government would still be closed.
I remember President Barack Obama’s promises about Obamacare: You can keep your doctor. You could keep your policy. Insurance costs would go down by $2,500 a family. Every single one of those promises was false.
Since Obamacare took effect, premiums have nearly tripled. Deductibles have more than doubled. The coverage costs for a family of four have increased by more than $10,000.
Many living in rural and frontier counties have lost their options for insurance providers. Nowadays, many counties only one insurer left. Some have none.
Obamacare has failed so badly that a Democratic senator recently confessed on the Senate floor that Democrats “did fail to bring down the cost of healthcare.” The New York Times now says, “Obamacare is pricey.” The Washington Post Editorial Board even admits that Obamacare was “never actually affordable.” Those are liberal supporters of Obamacare, not conservative critics.
Meanwhile, insurance companies have gotten very rich because the government continues to send them money to prop up Obamacare. Their stock prices have soared by 500-1000% since Obamacare became law. Insurers, not rural America, is who the Democrats continue to support financially.
My question to Democrats is this: If billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies, sent straight to large insurance companies without meaningful protections against fraud, were truly the solution, why have premiums continued to rise? And what exactly did those Biden COVID Bonuses accomplish for taxpayers?
Today, taxpayers pay 93% of the cost of Obamacare premiums. What did all that extra spending by the Democrats buy? It brought waste, fraud, abuse, and even corruption. Last year, the American people filed over 200,000 complaints with the federal government because they were unknowingly signed up or switched into Obamacare plans.
Republicans believe Americans deserve high quality, affordable healthcare. Americans have not gotten that with Obamacare.
Republicans believe taxpayer dollars should go directly to hardworking people who are empowered to make their own decisions about the healthcare for their families, not to the insurance companies.
Republicans are going to continue to fight to give people what they’ve wanted all along: the care they need, from the doctor they choose, at a price they can afford.
• Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming is the Senate Majority Whip.
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