Cornyn: GOP Reform Plan Far Better Than Obamacare Status Quo

Yesterday on the Senate floor, I discussed the updates and revisions made to the Senate Republican plan to reform health care after additional input by Members. Excerpts of my remarks are below, and video of my remarks can be found here.

On Thursday after two additional weeks of consultation and input from Senators, we released an improved version of a bill we call the Better Care Reconciliation Act, which represents our efforts to address the failing status quo of Obamacare. We've said all along that even if Hillary Clinton were elected President, we would have to revisit Obamacare because we have seen in a number of states that insurance companies are fleeing, leaving people with few, if any, options. People in the individual and small group market are seeing their premiums skyrocket.

After listening to a number of Senators, we made some important updates. For example, to combat the opioid epidemic that's ravaging the country, our new draft includes an additional $45 billion for substance abuse and recovery.

We're also introducing a provision that would, for the first time, allow people to use pre-tax dollars to pay for their insurance premiums.

Soon we're going to have a critical vote, one that's been seven years in the making.

But this, by any measure, represents an improvement over the status quo. And I think there are some very useful parts of this bill that people will like if they look at it objectively and consider it fairly. But if we don't take up the bill, well, it can't be changed, and millions of Americans will continue to be harmed by the status quo.

Do we have enough confidence that we can make it better, or are we simply going to throw our hands up and say, well, I give up before we even start, leaving people with the failure of the status quo?

I believe the alternative is a disaster for our country, and we simply can't afford to let it stand.

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