WASHINGTON— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following response to Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA):
“Pretending big premium increases are something new instead of more of what we’ve seen year after year under Obamacare ignores the facts. The numbers speak for themselves. Premiums have gone up every year since Obamacare was passed, and the average premium increase proposed in Washington state was 8.25 percent for 2015, 5.4 percent for 2016, 13.5 percent for 2017 when everyone thought Hillary Clinton would be president, 22.3 percent for 2018 before the Trump Administration took action, and now 19 percent for 2019.
“I’d love to see a bipartisan solution to lower health care costs, but let’s be clear: just a few months ago, Ranking Member Murray killed a bipartisan bill called ‘Alexander-Murray’ that would have lowered premiums by 40 percent. That’s right—she opposed her own bill.
“It seems Senate Democrats put partisan politics ahead of lowering premiums for families.”
In Washington state, health care premiums also increased by double digits in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.
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