U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., decried the news that families across the country enrolled in Obamacare will see their health insurance premiums increase by an average of 25 percent next year.
 
Some Georgia families will experience an even worse hike, with the average Georgia premiums going up by 32 percent, or as high as 67.5 percent for some plans. In addition, many of these Georgians are facing the discontinuation of their current plan, with only one company offering coverage in 96 of Georgia’s 159 counties in 2017.
 
“I voted against Obamacare because I feared that, contrary to what the president had promised, it would cost too much and cause too many Georgia families to lose the health care they already had,” said Isakson, a member of the Senate health committee. “My fears have become a reality after premiums have increased every year to an unaffordable price for many families who were promised exactly the opposite. Unless this fatally flawed law is rolled back, Obamacare will soon become a government-run monopoly and Georgians and all Americans will continue to be without what they were promised: a choice of doctors and health plans, access to quality and affordable care, and accountability and transparency.”
 
Isakson continued, “I have voted over and over again to repeal this terrible health care law and replace it with a free-market solution that makes medical care truly affordable and accessible to all Americans. Georgia families want and deserve a health care system where consumers can choose the health coverage option that's best for them and where health care decisions are left up to doctors and patients.”
 
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Monday that monthly premiums for benchmark silver-level plans will increase next year by an average of 25 percent in the states using the HealthCare.gov website, including Georgia.
 
In August 2016, a 21.4 percent rate increase was approved for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia. While Georgians were promised more choice and lower costs of healthcare as a result of Obamacare, the opposite is true. Now, in six out of every 10 Georgia counties, the only option for health insurance coverage is Blue Cross Blue Shield, leaving citizens in rural areas without the choices for the coverage that they need.
 
Isakson spoke on the Senate floor in September to highlight examples of how the president’s signature health care plan has broken promises to thousands of Georgians.
 
To help Georgians affected by higher premiums and reduced choice after insurers have recently been forced to leave the Obamacare exchange, Isakson has co-sponsored two pieces of legislation -- the Obamacare Tax Relief and Consumer Choice Act and the Protection from Obamacare Monopolies Act -- to free the hardworking families who are being hurt by Obamacare’s failure from having to comply with the law’s unfair mandates and taxes.