Cassidy Delivers Floor Speech to Demand End to Shutdown, Call for Action to Lower Health Costs for American Families

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), delivered remarks on the U.S. Senate floor calling on Democrats to end the shutdown and for Congress to work together on real solutions to lower health insurance costs for families. Specifically, he offered an alternative to the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, which funnel billions of taxpayer dollars to giant insurance companies with no incentive to lower the cost of health premiums.

Cassidy joined President Trump and Republican lawmakers calling for an end to the shutdown so Congress can work together on genuine reforms to fix the insurance market and lower health care costs.

"I want to present colleagues and fellow Americans with an idea that can move us forward out of this stalemate and solve the health care affordability problem." said Dr. Cassidy.

Since arriving to Congress in 2009, Cassidy has led multiple efforts to deliver solutions that make health care affordable for families. In his speech, Cassidy proposed an idea to empower patients to manage their own health care and ensure resources go directly to families' pockets, rather than insurance companies.

Click here to watch Cassidy's full remarks.

See below for the remarks as prepared for delivery.

Mr. President,

The government has been shut down for 38 days now.

We are about to have another failed vote that will continue the shutdown into next week.

Families across the country are frustrated.

We need to open the government. If we need to talk about health care to do it, then let's talk about health care.

We have an affordability crisis and health care is part of this

This is personal to me. I practiced in a public hospital for the uninsured for two decades. I saw middle income patients who could no longer afford insurance and now came to the hospital where I worked.

We have to put down our entrenched way of thinking and think creatively.

Washington and Obamacare have tried to make health care affordable by throwing more money at insurance companies.

The Enhanced Premium Tax Credit, or ePTC, is the latest example - a program that sends billions of taxpayer dollars straight to insurers in the hope that families will see smaller bills.

But let's face it - that doesn't make health care cheaper and makes it more expensive for millions.

We can do better than hiding the cost behind layers of bureaucracy.

Instead of paying insurance companies to manage our money, let's trust Americans to manage their own care - with a pre-funded Federal Flexible Spending Account.

I want to present colleagues and fellow Americans with an idea that can move us forward out of this stalemate and solve the health care affordability problem.

Let me make clear: This is not me speaking for the Republican Conference or even as Chairman of HELP.

This is me speaking as a Senator and an American who wants to make health care more affordable for all Americans and by the way, end the shutdown.

Here's the problem.

Under the ePTC, if your insurance premium goes up, Washington simply pays more of the bill.

Insurers get paid no matter what - and taxpayers get stuck with the tab.

There's no incentive to bring costs down, no transparency about what care really costs, and no reward for families who try to save.

It's like putting a band-aid on a broken bone.

We're not fixing the system - we're just hiding the fracture. .

The ePTC doesn't empower patients. It enriches insurance companies. Insurance companies are important, we need them, but give me the choice of empowering you or enriching an insurance company, I pick you every time.

Now imagine a different kind of help - not another insurance subsidy, but a health account you, a fellow American controls. .

Every eligible American would receive a Federally Pre-Funded Flexible Spending Account.

It would work like a prepaid health account that you could use for real-world health expenses:

Dental care - from cleanings to crowns;

Vision care - eye exams, eyeglasses, and contact lenses;

Orthodontics - braces for kids or adults;

Prescription drugs and medical supplies;

Routine medical services and preventive care.

It would not pay insurance premiums.

Instead, it would pay for the care that families actually use - the parts of health care most Americans struggle to afford day-to-day.

The Pre-Funded Flexible Spending Account does exactly that.

I will admit, this seems too complicated for some. It doesn't have to be. This is a tried-and-true means of paying for health care. 72% of Americans working for the government are offered FSAs. 47% of Americans employed by business have access to FSAs. What I am proposing just gives the same option to people on the exchanges.

By the way, speaking to private industry, they can stand it up.

The Federal Government already offers FSAs on the Small business Obamacare exchanges. Senators and Representatives are on these Small business Obamacare exchanges and the Treasury Department has an office which directs a portion of the Representatives or the Senator's paycheck into their FSA. My wife and I have one.

All this to say, the Federal Government can take the laws, tools, vendors and departments to make this happen.

By the way, if there is anyone who can push the bureaucracy to move faster, it is President Trump. His Operation Warp Speed developed a vaccine to protect Americans from Covid in 10 to 11 months when some said it would take 10 years and the most optimistic was 18 months. President Trump can make this happen.

Let me make clear the key difference between ePTCs and a Federally pre-funded FSA

With the Pre-Funded Flexible Spending Accounts, we're taking money that the ePTC would send to an insurance company for profit, bureaucracy, administrative costs, oh, and by the way paying for some health care and, this is the difference, we send it to you, the consumer, the patient, an American citizen to directly pay for care without the markups and hidden costs of an insurance policy

And there's more:

If the cash price for a service - say, a dental cleaning or a prescription refill - is lower than the insurance copay, YOU, the consumer can pay the cheaper cash price with their Pre-Funded Flexible Spending Accounts.

That means you save money, and so do the taxpayers funding the account.

This is the essence of giving power to patients: you pick the best deal, like in every other part of life.

The Pre-Funded Flexible Spending Accounts don't treat people like dependents of a government program as the PTCs do.

It treats you like capable consumers who knows what's best for your family.

You decide where to go for dental work.

You decide which pharmacy to use.

You decide whether to pay the negotiated rate or the cheaper cash price.

Instead of Washington paying insurance companies to manage your day-to-day care, you manage it - with fairness, transparency, and flexibility.

Some will ask: "Won't this cost money?"

Yes, it will - about the same as the current ePTC. My democratic colleagues should like that. An individual is getting better value through the Federally funded FSA.

But the difference is where that money goes.

That means more value for every federal dollar.

And because it is in a family's financial interest to shop wisely, total spending is likely to go down over time - without a single new mandate or price control.

This isn't just fiscally responsible - it's common sense.

So here's the choice before us:

We can keep paying insurance companies to hide the cost of health care behind confusing bills and rising premiums in a system which actually raises the cost for some.

Or we can give Americans the tools - and the trust - to pay for their care directly, at fair prices, with total transparency.

If we can, it puts patients, not insurers.

It encourages competition.

It rewards smart choices.

And it makes health care truly affordable - not by inflating subsidies, but by unleashing the power of the consumer.

Let's stop writing blank checks to bureaucracies and insurance companies.

Let's invest in you.

I will say, to accomplish this, we have to first open the government!

We have to be willing to take a risk to solve the problem and not be afraid to do something different, to tackle complex problems.

We will not solve them by retreating to where we have always been.

I am a rock ribbed Republican but I will say, this is not a Republican solution, it is not a Democrat solution, it is an American solution.

Let's open the government and then let's fix health care the American way,

Thank you.

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