Alexander: Congress, President Poised to Deliver Christmas Presents of Tax Cuts, Lower Cost Health Policies

BRENTWOOD, Tennessee, December 15, 2017 – United States Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), in Middle Tennessee today, said Congress and President Trump are set to deliver Christmas presents to Tennessee families next week by reducing taxes and health care premiums. 

“This Christmas season is a good time for Congress to give Christmas presents to both taxpayers and hardworking Tennesseans who have been struggling to pay for skyrocketing insurance premiums,” Alexander said. “And that’s exactly what Congress and President Trump will do when we pass a legislative package that would lower premiums by 18 percent in 2019, according to Avalere, one of the leading health care consulting firms in the country. On top of that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, this package would also mean fewer federal dollars for Obamacare subsidies, less federal debt, and no taxpayer money bailing out insurance companies.”

Alexander continued, “The legislative package would include a bill I – as chairman of the Senate’s health committee -- worked on with Senator Patty Murray from Washington – which was co-sponsored by 11 other Republicans and has the support of President Trump. This bill funds cost-sharing reduction payments for two years, which would help low-income Tennesseans pay for co-pays and deductibles. It would also give Tennessee more flexibility in creating policies at a lower cost and allow any Tennessean to buy a “catastrophic” health care plan with lower premiums and high deductibles.

“The package would also include the Collins-Nelson bill – written by Senator Susan Collins from Maine and Senator Bill Nelson from Florida -- which is based upon the experience of Maine and Alaska in using invisible risk pools and reinsurance funds to create a pool of money to pay for the health care needs of the very sick, thereby reducing premiums by as much as 20 percent for everybody else.”

Alexander told Brentwood rotary members the story of Marty, a farmer he met in Nashville last week who will pay $1,300 a month next year in premiums, making it very difficult for her to afford. The average Tennessean has seen premiums rise 176% over the last five years and an additional 58 percent this year, the senator said.

“So a very good Christmas present for Marty and men and women like her across this country would be for this Congress, before the end of the month, to pass what we call the Alexander-Murray and the Collins-Nelson legislation which will lower premiums by 18%."

Alexander said Tennesseans will also receive a well-deserved Christmas present after Congress passes a tax reform bill next week that will help create more good-paying jobs for Tennessee families and keep more money in Tennesseans’ pockets. Alexander told rotary members the Senate and House have been working together on their different bills to send to President Trump legislation that can become law by the end of the year. Alexander voted for the Senate’s tax reform bill on December 2.

Please email Ashton_Davies@alexander.senate.gov for high resolution photos. 

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