ObamaCare Report Card: An “F” from Ohio Voters

November 9, 2011

Democrats’ Government Takeover of Healthcare Suffers a Bruising Defeat in Ohio as Voters React to Pattern of Failures, Tardies and Broken Promises

Another year, another bruising election day for the Democrats’ government healthcare takeover. Ohio voters on Tuesday voted for a constitutional amendment that would repeal the Democrats’ healthcare law, and they did so by a whopping margin: 66 to 34 percent.
It’s not hard to see why voters continue to give the Democrats’ healthcare disaster a failing grade as Democrats fail to live up to their grandiose promises. Employers are already planning to drop health insurance coverage for employees, the law’s price tag is increasing and the cost of healthcare continues to rise. The Democrats’ government takeover of healthcare has also missed 60% of its implementation since the law was rammed through Congress in March 2010.
Americans are “find[ing] out what’s in” Nancy Pelosi’s government healthcare takeover and they don’t like it. But Democrats continue to rally behind the law anyway.

BACKGROUND

Another year, another bruising election day for the Democrats’ government healthcare takeover. Ohio voters on Tuesday voted for a constitutional amendment that would repeal the Democrats’ healthcare law, and they did so by a whopping margin: 66 to 34 percent:

STATEWIDE TALLY: HEALTHCARE LAW SUFFERS CRUSHING BLOW, OPPOSED BY 66% OF VOTERS: (“Live Election Results,” Ohio Secretary of State, Accessed 11/9/2011)

UNANIMOUS: “ANTI-OBAMACARE MEASURE SWEEPS ALL 88 COUNTIESIN OHIO”: (Jeffery H. Anderson, “Anti-ObamaCare Measure Sweeps All 88 Counties in Ohio,” The Weekly Standard, 11/9/2011)

EVEN “DEMOCRATIC STRONGHOLDS” VOTE TO REJECT DEMOCRATS’ HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER BY HUGE MARGINS: (Jeffery H. Anderson, “Anti-ObamaCare Measure Sweeps All 88 Counties in Ohio,” The Weekly Standard, 11/9/2011)

It’s not hard to see why voters continue to give the Democrats’ healthcare disaster a failing grade as Democrats fail to live up to their grandiose promises. Employers are already planning to drop health insurance coverage for employees, the law’s price tag is increasing and the cost of healthcare continues to rise. The Democrats’ government takeover of healthcare has also missed 60% of its implementation since the law was rammed through Congress in March 2010:

LOTS OF TARDIES, 60% IN FACT:

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HAS MISSED 60% OF HEALTHCARE DEADLINES: “The Obama administration has failed to meet more than half of the new health care law’s deadlines, from submitting plans for new, value-based Medicare purchasing programs to publishing criteria for determining the medically underserved.

“A report requested by Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, indicates that the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies missed 18 of 30 deadlines since the Affordable Care Act was passed in March 2010.” (Paige Winfield Cunningham, “More than half health care deadlines missed by Obama administration,”The Washington Times, 11/3/2011)

BROKEN PROMISES AND POLICY FAILURES:

PRESIDENT OBAMA, 2009: “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what.” (Mary Lu Carnevale, “Obama: ‘If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor’,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/15/2009)

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: HEALTHCARE BILL ABOUT “BENDING THE COST CURVE” DOWN: “[Vice President Joe Biden]: But, look, I think, if I can lay out, Mr. President, what I think we all agree on, and then figure out whether as a way to deal with the deficit end of this — bending the cost curve, to use a phrase you and many others have used, Mr. President.” (“Remarks by The President In Discussion of the Deficit at Bipartisan Meeting on Health Care Reform,” The White House, 2/25/2010)

PELOSI THIS YEAR: HEALTHCARE BILL “ESSENTIAL TO REDUCING COSTS, IMPROVING QUALITY, AND EXPANDING ACCESS”: “So personally, economically, fiscally in terms of our budget, we could not sustain the course that we were on. Every piece of this comprehensive bill is essential to reducing costs, improving quality, and expanding access.” (“Transcript of Press Conference on Patients’ Rights Ahead of Affordable Care Act Anniversary,” Office of the Democratic Leader, 3/10/2011)

HEALTHCARE LAW INSURANCE SUBSIDIES COULD PENALIZE MARRIED COUPLES: “President Obama’s healthcare law penalizes married couples by making it tougher for them to get insurance subsidies, Republicans charge in a new report obtained by The Hill.

“The 22-page report from House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) concludes that married couples will get only 14 percent of the law’s tax credits, even as more than 7 million mostly single people cease paying income taxes altogether.” (Julian Pecquet, “Healthcare Reform Penalizes Married Couples, Says Report,” The Hill, 10/27/2011)

MCKINSEY STUDY: 30% OF EMPLOYERS SAY THEY WILL “DEFIINITELY OR PROBABLY” STOP HEALTH INSURANCE FOR EMPLOYEES: “While only 7% of employees will be forced to switch to subsidized-exchange programs, at least 30% of companies say they will ‘definitely or probably’ stop offering employer-sponsored coverage, according to the study published in McKinsey Quarterly.” (Russ Britt, “Firms Halting Coverage as Reform Starts: Survey 30% of Companies Say They’ll Stop Offering Health Plans,” Market Watch, 6/6/2011)

CLASS PROGRAM DROPPED BECAUSE OF PROHIBITIVE COST:

HHS ABANDONS HEALTHCARE LAW’S LONG-TERM CARE PROGRAM BECAUSE “TOO FLAWED TO SALVAGE”: “But HHS officials acknowledged that CLASS fell apart simply because it was too flawed to salvage.” (Sam Baker, “Obama’s HHS Ends Controversial Program in Healthcare Law,” The Hill, 10/14/2011)

DECISION WAS A LONG-TIME COMING: TROVE OF INTERNAL E-MAILS” SHOW OBAMA OFFICIALS “KNEW THAT A PROGRAM FOR LONG-TERM CARE” WAS A “FISCAL DISASTER” BUT WENT AHEAD ANYWAY: “The Solyndra solar subsidy flare-up is getting all the media attention, but arguably as great a White House scandal concerns one of ObamaCare’s multiple new entitlements. A trove of internal emails uncovered by congressional investigators shows that administration officials knew that a new program for long-term care really was the fiscal disaster that critics claimed at the time.

“Known by the acronym Class, the government-backstopped insurance for nursing homes, home health aides and the like was among the worst accounting gimmicks used to make it seem as if national health care would reduce the deficit.” (Joseph Rago, “GOP Vets an ObamaCare Program,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/19/2011)

MEDICAID COSTS RISING, BENEFITS BEING CUT AS DEMOCRATS PREPARE TO DUMP MILLIONS MORE AMERICANS INTO THE PROGRAM:

STATES “SHARPLY LIMITING HOSPITAL STAYS” TO “CONTROL RISING COSTS”: “A growing number of states are sharply limiting hospital stays under Medicaid to as few as 10 days a year to control rising costs of the health insurance program for the poor and disabled.” (Phil Galewitz, “More States Limiting Medicaid Hospital Stays,” USA Today, 10/24/2011)

MOVES COULD “RESTRICT ACCESS TO CARE” AND “LEAD TO HIGHER CHARGES FOR PRIVATELY INSURED PATIENTS”: “Advocates for the needy and hospital executives say the moves will restrict access to care, force hospitals to absorb more costs and lead to higher charges for privately insured patients.” (Phil Galewitz, “More States Limiting Medicaid Hospital Stays,” USA Today, 10/24/2011)

GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER TO ADD UP TO 23 MILLION NEW PEOPLE INTO MEDICAID: “The actuary’s office said the 3 million early retirees who would become eligible for Medicaid are on top of an estimated 16 million to 20 million people that Obama’s law would already bring into the program, by opening it to childless adults with incomes near the poverty level. Federal taxpayers will cover all of the initial cost of the expansion.” (“A Glitch in Obamacare Could Give Middle Class Insurance Coverage Intended for the Poor,” Associated Press, 6/21/2011)

Americans are “find[ing] out what’s in” Nancy Pelosi’s government healthcare takeover and they don’t like it. But Democrats continue to rally behind the law anyway:

PELOSI IN MARCH 2010: “… WE HAVE TO PASS THE BILL SO THAT YOU CAN FIND OUT WHAT IS IN IT” : “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” (David Freddoso, “Pelosi on Health Care: ‘We Have to Pass the Bill So You Can Find Out What Is In It,” The Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog, 3/9/2010)

KAISER POLL: HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER SUPPORT DOWN TO 34%, OPPOSITION UP TO 51%: “Yesterday the Kaiser Family Foundation released its October tracking poll and found that only 34% of respondents have a favorable view of the Affordable Care Act, down from 41% in September. Notably, the decline was due to losing Democratic supporters, who dropped to 52% support from 65% month to month. Meanwhile, 51% of the public is opposed to the vast new government health-care entitlement, up from a prior 2011 average of 45%.” (Editorial, “Less Popular All the Time,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/29/2011)

RESULTS NOTEWORTHY BECAUSE KAISER HAS LONG BEEN “SHOWING MORE SUPPORT” THAN OTHER POLLS: “These results show the lowest support ever in the Kaiser survey and they’re remarkable because the research outfit has long been an outlier, showing more support overall for the law, or for this or that provision, than other pollsters have been able to detect. This report is more in line with the national trend.”(Editorial, “Less Popular All the Time,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/29/2011)

REPEAL OF THE GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTHCARE, OPPOSED BY 98% OF DEMS. Final Vote: 245-189. (Roll Call 14, Clerk of the U.S. House, 1/19/2011)