Healthcare

This measure is deceptively titled the "Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019.” It does no such thing.

Lower premiums, increased choices and improved care: these were the promises made to America by those who imposed Obamacare. Exactly the opposite has happened. Last year, premiums increased an average of 25 percent and this year we’re warned they’ll increase 40 percent. Last year, only one provider remained in a third of American counties. This year, entire regions have no providers at all. In 2015, American life expectancies actually declined.

The last four elections have defined one of the most dramatic political realignments in our country’s history. In those elections, we’ve seen a net shift of 64 U.S. House seats, 12 U.S. Senate seats, 10 governors, 919 state legislative seats and the presidency shift from Democrats to Republicans. This happened in large part on three overarching mandates: revive the economy; secure our borders and repair our healthcare system. If President Trump can accomplish these three objectives, his administration and this congress will be remembered as one of the most successful and beneficial in our nation’s history.

Congress is fundamentally a deliberative institution. Deliberations take time and they’re often messy – in fact, the bigger the issue, the messier the deliberations. The designers of our Constitution wanted a great, big, ugly debate whenever a decision was being made. They wanted the subject to be held up to every conceivable light and for every voice in the country to be heard.

Any discussion of the American Health Care Act needs first to consider where we will be without it. Obamacare is collapsing. More people are paying the steep tax penalty or claiming hardship exemptions than are choosing to buy Obamacare policies. In a third of the counties across America, there is only one provider to choose and soon we will see counties where there are no providers at all.