Congressman Brett Guthrie, Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, spoke on the House floor in support of H.R. 6703, known as the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act. The proposed legislation aims to introduce new rules for association health plans, change requirements for individual and group health coverage, set standards for contracts between plan sponsors and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and allocate funding to reduce cost sharing.
During his remarks, Guthrie criticized the Affordable Care Act (commonly called Obamacare) and its impact on health care costs and plan options. He stated: “I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6703, the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act.”
Guthrie argued that promises made during the passage of Obamacare have not been fulfilled. He said: “‘If you like your plan, you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep them.’ These famous last words still haunt us.” He added that “Obamacare has not lived up to Democrats’ lofty promises; instead, the consequences of that bill continue to burden American patients as they have since its enactment.”
He pointed out that health care spending has nearly doubled since Obamacare was enacted and claimed that plan options have decreased while medical debt has increased across the country. According to Guthrie: “Obamacare premiums are up 80 percent since the program’s inception, with patients paying on average $5,000 out of their own pocket to hit their deductible, and the average out of pocket spending maximum for one year is over $20,000! Without a doubt, Obamacare has proven to be unaffordable and unsustainable.”
Guthrie also addressed actions taken by Democrats during recent years in response to rising costs. He said: “In an attempt to respond to the affordability crisis created by Obamacare, Democrats leveraged a public health emergency to shovel hundreds of billions of dollars to big health insurance plans to mask the rising unaffordability of coverage.” He referenced temporary premium tax credits provided through both the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and Inflation Reduction Act in 2023.
He continued: “On both occasions, Democrats chose to make these COVID Credits temporary. They could have made them permanent... Now, Democrats are uniting behind a policy to send billions more taxpayer dollars to big health insurance plans.”
Guthrie outlined Republican proposals intended as alternatives: eliminating silver loading from ACA plans (which he said would lower premiums by 11 percent), increasing transparency around PBMs with an aim at lowering drug costs for all Americans, expanding affordable plan choices through Association Health Plans and other arrangements.
“This proposal results in more than double the premium reduction than the Democrats’ extension of the enhanced COVID subsidies,” Guthrie stated. “The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Republican plan before us will lower premiums by 11 percent compared to just 5 percent from continuing the Democrats’ subsidies.”
He concluded by emphasizing bipartisan aspects of some policies included in H.R. 6703—such as ending silver loading practices—and called for cooperation moving forward: “I hope we can overlook the politics that are clouding the issue, come together to pass this bill, and continue work together into 2026 to deliver more affordable health care to all Americans.”
