© APSen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)
Toomey said he, his wife, and three children are among those "forced" to buy government-mandated health insurance on one of the new exchanges, and last week, his wife tried to sign up the family on an Obamacare exchange website.
"Now, my wife is a very sharp woman. She's a former computer software consultant," Toomey said. After entering the family's personal information, the website wouldn't let her browse the various plans. "When she called someone and asked for help, she was told the system just wasn't working right now and it was best to try again later."
According to Toomey, "The fiasco my wife just faced with the health care website is being experienced by Americans across the country when they try to sign up for health insurance. If this were just a matter of a slow-moving computer glitch, well, then maybe that would be excusable, but it's much more than that.
"It's been reported that perhaps as many as one third of those who have been able to complete the online enrollment process might not actually have insurance coverage at all. Apparently, the enrollment information isn't always being transmitted to the insurers...Can you imagine going to your doctor or to a hospital in January only to find out you're not actually insured?"
Americans who have not been directly harmed by Obamacare should consider themselves fortunate, Toomey said. "But take the time to listen to your friends, family, and neighbors. They'll tell you stories of lost coverage, higher costs, enrollment errors, not to mention lost jobs and fewer hours working. It's a disaster for our country and it's only going to get worse."
Toomey said there are ways to make health insurance "more accessible, more affordable, and more responsive to individuals and families" without putting the government in charge.
"The problem with Obamacare isn't just the glitch," he continued. "It's fundamental and it's taking away our freedom. At the heart of the program is the idea that the government should decide your health coverage, what you require and how much you should pay, never mind what you want, what you need, and what you can afford. But working together, we can put an end to the dropped coverage and higher costs that the Obamacare law is forcing on so many."
Toomey said Americans "should be free to choose the insurance coverage that's right for them. That choice should not be in the hands of the Obama administration or at the mercy of malfunctioning government websites."
The business and economic reporting of CNSNews.com is funded in part with a gift made in memory of Dr. Keith C. Wold.
Susan Jones joined CNSNews.com in April 1999, after working for 18 years as a television producer and news-writer in the Washington, D.C., Denver, and Greensboro, N.C., television markets. Susan holds a bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.
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