Democrats’ Unaffordable Care Act is a Disaster for Working Families
March 12, 2012
After Two Years of Dems Selling ObamaCare, Americans Still Aren’t Buying It Due to Increased Costs and Threats to Quality Healthcare
· Two years after Democrats rammed through ObamaCare, Democrats are still struggling to come to grips with the fact their government takeover of healthcare remains politically toxic.
· Study after study shows that ObamaCare is causing tremendous damage to the healthcare system, forcing employers to drop coverage for their employees and increasing the cost of healthcare.
· Meanwhile, the Democrats’ healthcare disaster continues to break the bank, demanding more and more money Americans don’t have to implement a government healthcare takeover Americans don’t want.
Two years after Democrats rammed through ObamaCare, Democrats are still struggling to come to grips with the fact their government takeover of healthcare remains politically toxic:
OBAMA SPOKESMAN CLAIMS WHITE HOUSE SPENT “MORE THAN TWO YEARS NOW IN AN EFFORT TO EDUCATE” AMERICANS “ABOUT THE BENEFITS” OF OBAMACARE: “The administration has been involved for more than two years now in an effort to educate the American public about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.” (Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest en route Richmond, VAMarch 9, 2012)
HOYER CLAIMS “CITIZENS ARE COMING” TO “SEE THE BENEFITS” OF THEIR GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER: “But I think there’s very, very strong support in the Democratic Party, and I believe that citizens are coming to that more and more as they see the benefits of that accruing to seniors in terms of their prescription-drug bill being reduced.” (Jessica Brady, “Democrats Willing to Tinker with Health Care Law,” Roll Call, 3/7/2012)
REP. RON KIND (D-WI): “I WOULD BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT THAT IPAB REQUIRES A LEAP OF FAITH, BUT I SUPPORTED IT, I THINK IT MAKES SENSE.” (Remarks From Rep. Ron Kind, House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing, 3/6/2012)
BUT OBAMACARE REMAINS HORRIFICALLY UNPOPULAR:
AP POLL: OBAMACARE “STILL UNPOPULAR”: “The poll found that 35 percent of Americans support the health care law overhaul, while 47 percent oppose it. That’s about the same split as when it passed. Then, 39 percent supported it and 50 percent opposed it.” (“Poll: Obama’s Health Overhaul Still Unpopular, But Fewer Expect Own Care to Worsen,” Associated Press, 3/8/2012)
NEW STUDY: OBAMACARE COST HOUSE DEMS HEAVILY LAST CYCLE: “Voting for President Obama’s healthcare reform law cost Democratic incumbents to lose 5.8 percentage points of support at the polls in 2010, according to a new study in the journal American Politics Research…Democrats in the lead-up to the elections took a number of tough votes – notably on the Wall Street bail-out, the stimulus and cap-and-trade – but none were as unpopular as their support for the health reform law.” (Julian Pecquet, “Study quantifies health reform vote’s ‘significant’ toll on 2010 House Democrats,” The Hill‘s Healthwatch Blog, 3/8/12)
USA TODAY POLL: 50% SAY GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER WAS “A BAD THING,” ONLY 42% SAY A GOOD THING: (Susan Page, “Swing States Poll: Health Care Law Hurts Obama in 2012,” USA Today, 2/27/2012)
IN SWING STATES, 53% SAY HEALTHCARE LAW WAS “A BAD THING” AND ONLY 38% SUPPORT IT: (Susan Page, “Swing States Poll: Health Care Law Hurts Obama in 2012,” USA Today, 2/27/2012)
Study after study shows that ObamaCare is causing tremendous damage to the healthcare system, forcing employers to drop coverage for their employees and increasing the cost of healthcare:
MAJOR SURVEY OF LARGE EMPLOYERS: “HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS MORE, COVERS LESS” IN WORLD OF OBAMACARE: (Jeffrey Young, “Health Insurance Costs More, Covers Less, Surveys Says,” The Huffington Post, 3/8/2012)
“WORKERS ARE PICKING UP A BIGGER SHARE OF HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS AND FACE MORE RESTRICTIONS ON COVERAGE”: “Workers are picking up a bigger share of health insurance costs and face more restrictions on coverage this year, a survey of large companies reveals. … As medical expenses rise and the pieces of President Barack Obama’s health reform law take effect, companies are tuning employee health insurance plans to save money. More significant changes could be coming.” (Jeffrey Young, “Health Insurance Costs More, Covers Less, Surveys Says,” The Huffington Post, 3/8/2012)
ONLY 23% OF EMPLOYERS VERY CONFIDENT THEY WILL STILL BE OFFERING EMPLOYEES INSURANCE IN 10 YEARS, DOWN FROM 73% IN 2007: “Less than one in four (23%) companies are very confident that they will continue to offer health care benefits 10 years from now, down from a peak of 73% in 2007.” (Press release, “Health Benefits Changes on the Horizon, Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Study Finds,” Market Watch, 3/8/2012)
“HEALTHCARE COSTS CONTINUE TO GROW”: “Health care costs continue to grow — trend of 5.9% expected. Average total health care costs per employee are expected to reach $11,664 in 2012, up from $10,982 in 2011.” (“Performance in an Era of Uncertainty,” Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, March 2012)
CBO REPORT PREDICTS HEALTHCARE SPENDING UNDER DEM HEALTHCARE DISASTER WILL BALLOON OUT OF CONTROL TO $1.8 TRILLION: “…[S]pending on federal health care programs will more than double, from $847 billion, or 5.5 percent of GDP, in 2012, to $1.8 trillion, or 7.3 percent of GDP, by 2022.” (Philip Klein, “CBO report shows Obamacare’s ballooning costs,” The Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential Blog, 1/31/12)
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ healthcare disaster continues to break the bank, demanding more and more money Americans don’t have to implement a government healthcare takeover Americans don’t want:
ONLY 3 DEMOCRATS JOINED EFFORT TO REPEAL OBAMACARE: Final Vote: 245-189. (Roll Call 14,Clerk of the U.S. House, 1/19/2011)
DEMOCRATS ASKING FOR $111B TO PAY FOR GOV’T HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER: “Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) is asking about a spike in the estimated costs of subsidies to help people buy private insurance — a central, and expensive, component of the new healthcare law.
“The administration’s budget request this year included $111 billion more for subsidies than its request last year. The difference falls across the same seven-year window.” (Sam Baker, “Republican Probes $111 Billion Jump in Cost of Healthcare Law,” The Hill, 3/2/2012)
PER PERSON COST OF DEMOCRATS’ LATEST HEALTHCARE MISTAKE: $355 FOR EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA: (“U.S. POPClock Projection,” U.S. Census Bureau, 3/2/2012)