By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Tuesday, October 4, 2016, US Representative Martha Roby (R-Montgomery) announced on social media that she agreed with former President Bill Clinton when he attacked Obamacare as a “crazy system.”
Congresswoman Roby said in a statement on Facebook, “Couldn’t have said it better myself. Today Bill Clinton described Obamacare as a ‘crazy system’ that forces people to be ‘out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half.”
Rep. Roby said “Clinton’s remarks drive home a harsh reality: American families and small businesses are being crushed by Obamacare’s rising premiums and swelling deductibles.”
Former President Bill Clinton was speaking at a campaign rally for his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Flint Michigan.
President Clinton said that the core principles of Obamacare are unworkable. “You’ve got this crazy system where all the sudden 25 million more people have healthcare, and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half.” Pres. Clinton said of Obamacare, “It’s the craziest thing in the world.”
The former President was promoting a new plan where people can buy into Medicare or Medicaid.
Obamacare, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, is President Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment. However, the plan is increasingly unpopular as premiums continue to climb along with deductibles, and as more and more insurers leave the troubled insurance exchanges.
According to the Kaiser Foundation’s Premium calculator, the cost of insurance for a silver plan in Alabama for a married couple of two (ages 47 and 32) would be $618 a month without government subsidies. A silver plan only pays an estimated 70 percent of health care costs until the maximum out of pocket is reached at $13,700 in 2016. For a 58-year-old Alabama couple, the cost of the premiums would be $1,148 a month. If they still had two children on the plan, that could balloon to $1,434 a month.
A growing number of Americans are finding they can not afford the costs and if they can afford the premiums, they can’t afford to use the coverage because of the high deductibles. Providing coverage for employees has become crippling for businesses, who are increasingly assigning duties like security and janitorial needs to contractors while keeping as many employees as possible working part time to avoid the insurance costs.
The growing unpopularity of the program has forced Democrats to begin to run away from the plan. Congresswoman Roby and the Republican House majority have voted to repeal Obamacare dozens of times.
The election will be on November 8.
Martha Roby is an attorney and former Montgomery City Councilwoman, who was elected in 2010, replacing Congressman Bobby Bright (D-Montgomery). Roby represents the Second Congressional District.
Original reporting by Fox News and The Hill’s Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.
