NFIB had a seat at the table when Vice President Mike Pence met with small-business owners and elected officials in Lexington on Wednesday, July 12. Pence’s office posted video from the event on Twitter.
In Kentucky yesterday I reaffirmed @POTUS‘ promise to #RepealAndReplace Obamacare. KY’s a case study of Obamacare’s failures & it must go. pic.twitter.com/pQ0WU3RYgu
— Vice President Pence (@VP) July 13, 2017
Before speaking at Bryant’s Rent-All, an NFIB member business on Red Mile Road, the vice president met privately with a group of small-business owners, including several NFIB members: Terry Bryant, of Bryant’s Rent-All; Phillip Pratt, of Pratt’s Lawn and Landscape; Dan Withrow, of CSS Distribution; and Hope Hurst-Lanham, of Hurst Office Supplies.
Thank you to @nfib_ky member business Bryant’s Rent-All for hosting the @VP and #SmallBiz owners to discuss #healthcare costs and concerns pic.twitter.com/21iwUj69Rm
— NFIB Kentucky (@nfib_ky) July 12, 2017
“It was a good discussion,” said Tom Underwood, state director of NFIB. “I think it was clear to everyone at the table that this administration understands the challenges facing Kentucky’s small businesses.”
@nfib_ky State Director Tom Underwood got a photo with the @VP after the #SmallBiz listening session today! pic.twitter.com/sa2G7jp3qH
— NFIB Kentucky (@nfib_ky) July 12, 2017
In his speech, Pence called Bryant’s Rent-All “a real American success story.”
“President Trump and I both know just how important small businesses like this one are to America, to jobs and a growing economy,” Pence said. “Small businesses like this and those represented here today so well are the beating heart of communities large and small–creating jobs and opportunities.”
The focus of the vice president’s speech, however, was the administration’s commitment to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“You all remember the broken promises they made to get Obamacare passed,” he said. “They said if you like your doctor you could keep them–not true. They said if you like your health insurance you could keep it. Tens of thousands in Kentucky have found out the hard way–not true. We were told that health insurance costs would go down. Now we know the facts. Here in Kentucky, the average premium on the individual market has spiked by a staggering 75 percent just in the past four years. Now President Obama and all those that advocated Obamacare promised us that you would save up to $2,500 per year if Obamacare became law. The Governor just mentioned that statistic today. But today instead of the average American saving $2,500 a year, average Obamacare premium costs are $2,000 more today than they were just in 2013.
“Here in Kentucky, the average premium on the individual market has spiked by a staggering 75 percent just in the past four years,” the vice president said. “Now. President Obama and all those that advocated Obamacare promised us that you would save up to $2,500 per year if Obamacare became law…. But today instead of the average American saving $2,500 a year, average Obamacare premium costs are $2,000 more today than they were just in 2013.
“And the truth is it’s only getting worse,” Pence said. “Working families in Kentucky are facing double-digit premium hikes heading into 2018, and while costs are skyrocketing, choices are plummeting.”
A day earlier, on July 11, NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan said, “Small-business optimism dropped [in June] in response to the gridlock in the Senate over the healthcare reform bill.”
NFIB’s monthly Index of Small Business Optimism fell 0.9 points to 103.6 in June. It peaked at 105.9 in January. Click here to read the full monthly report on small-business optimism.
Thanks Kentucky & @GovMattBevin! Enjoyed my visit, & as I said, @POTUS & I will not rest & not relent until we #RepealAndReplace Obamacare. pic.twitter.com/D0PpdeyAac
— Vice President Pence (@VP) July 13, 2017
NFIB thanks the vice president for listening to their concerns about the state of healthcare in Kentucky and for standing up for small business.
