Remarks on Health Care Reform in Cincinnati, Ohio

The President. Hello, everybody. Thank you. I want to thank you. I'm joined today by two American families—great families. Just met them on the plane, and they've had their lives completely upended by the disaster known as Obamacare.

Raya Whalen from Ohio, Dan Withrow from Kentucky—two great States—and their very beautiful children, families. Thank you, both. And I want to thank you very much for being here—great families—for being here and sharing your stories today and giving voice to millions and millions and millions of Americans who are going through turmoil right now, absolute turmoil. And these are Americans like you, like you, like all of us. Health care is about so much more than dollars and cents. It's about real people: Raya and Dan, honest Americans who work hard to take care of their families and give their best to our wonderful country.

Raya Whalen and her husband Michael live in Dayton. Raya had a great affordable health care plan that worked for her family. She loved the plan, really loved the plan. Then came Obamacare. Raya liked her doctor, wanted to keep her doctor, but she could not keep her doctor. She wasn't allowed under the rules and regulations unless she paid an additional $50,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for the birth of her precious little girl—just born—Colette. Their monthly premiums have quadrupled. Their deductible is a staggering $15,000—meaning they won't even get to use it—and hopefully, I have to say that—but they won't get to use what they're paying so much for.

Dan Withrow's story is just as bad. He owns CSS Distribution Group, a small business in Louisville, Kentucky—fantastic State, great people. Before Obamacare, his 11 employees enjoyed multiple options for high quality, affordable health care. Everybody was happy. Is that right?

CSS Distribution Group Inc. President and Cofounder Dan Withrow. Absolutely.

The President. Everybody was happy. Then came Obamacare, and now they have fewer choices. Premiums are 150 percent higher. It's amazing. But don't—you're not alone, by the way.

Mr. Withrow. I know.

The President. I see in Alaska it just went up over 200 percent. Alaska, over 200 percent, just announced. And creating new jobs is no longer really an option for Dan because the health insurance is so expensive.

Raya and Dan are just two of the many victims of the Obamacare catastrophe created by congressional Democrats. Across America, premiums are skyrocketing, insurers are fleeing, and the American people are paying much more for much worse coverage. The coverage is horrendous. It's horrendous.

Since the law's provision took effect, premiums have exploded by an average of 86 percent in Ohio and 75 percent in Kentucky. And those States are minor compared to others. The numbers in some of the States are much, much higher. Just yesterday we learned that one of the largest insurers is pulling out of Ohio. That could mean another 20,000 [20; White House correction.] counties, and 19,000 people will have no plan available to them.

In Kentucky, seven carriers have exited the State since Obamacare was implemented. I've been saying this for a long time. As a result, nearly half of the counties in Kentucky had only one choice in 2017. And if trends continue—and I think they definitely will. We don't have to think; they will continue—but we will come and we will do something great. We're in the process of doing it.

But if trends do continue, they'll have no plans in Kentucky in 2018. So 93,650 families—think of that—93,650 families paid $16.5 million in penalties instead of purchasing unaffordable Obamacare health plans that didn't meet their needs. Obamacare is in a total death spiral, and the problems will only get worse if Congress fails to act. Obamacare is dead. I've been saying it for a long time. Everybody knows it. Everybody that wants to report fairly about it knows.

The House of Representatives has done its job. It sent a plan to the Senate, and the Senate is working it over. We spent a lot of time yesterday with Mitch McConnell and a lot of the great Senators. They happen to be Republicans because we're having no help—it's only obstruction—from the Democrats. The Democrats are destroying health care in this country. We have had no help. We will get no votes no matter what we do. If we gave you the greatest plan in the history of the world, you would have no Democratic vote. It's all going to be Republicans or bust. And the Republicans are working very, very hard on getting a great healthcare plan.

So now it's the Senate's turn to act. And again, I hope that they're going to act in a very positive manner. I can tell you the Republican Senators are trying very hard. The Democrats are really in our way.

We want millions of Americans, like Raya and Dan, to finally have the quality and affordable health care that they deserve. They've been unfairly penalized for too long a period of time. We're working very hard to fix this big problem.

I want to thank you very much. And to these two great families, I want thank you very much. Thank you.