Chairman Arrington Slams Democrats’ “Fraud Bag” on the House Floor
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) delivered remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 6703, the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act. He condemned the Democrats’ push to extend COVID-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are rife with fraud while highlighting Republican reforms that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says would lower health care premiums by 11 percent.
Watch Chairman Arrington’s full remarks HERE.
Remarks as delivered:
"Mr. Speaker, let me simplify the debate today for the American people. Republicans are bringing forward reforms that will actually lower the cost of care. According to CBO, which is the gold standard for my Democrat colleagues, it says [our proposal] will reduce premiums by 11%.
Now, the only other time premiums have gone down since Obamacare was enacted is when Republicans actually advanced reforms in the Big Beautiful Bill — namely, rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse that lowered the cost of care. So, we continue to bail out the (un)Affordable Care Act and actually make it more affordable, along with other policies that provide the federal assistance to the people, not insurance agencies, and give the private market more competition and transparency so people have more choice.
Okay, that's our plan, and it lowers cost for everybody.
The Democrats are trying to put forward an extension of a COVID-era, fraud-ridden subsidy that has proven time and again — GAO, CBO, all the watchdogs say — it is fraught with tens of billions of fraud. Tens of thousands of Social Security numbers from dead people have been used to siphon money away from this program. Millions of people, according to CBO, are ineligible on the program.
The answer from the Democrats is to perpetuate this fraud bag, which is a completely egregious and reckless thing to do as stewards of tax dollars. Not to mention, it's propping up the underlying program that year after year has raised premiums and deductibles two times. It's doubled premiums and deductibles since Obamacare has been enacted. We've got fewer choices. Things are worse.
As Ronald Reagan said so beautifully—so aptly for this moment—I can’t think of any better words: government is not the solution here. You all have proven that government is the problem, and we've got the solution that actually delivers the affordability to the American people. I urge my colleagues to support it."
