ObamaCare’s Rising Price Tag for Working Families

March 14, 2012

Democrats Continue to Block Repeal of A Healthcare Monstrosity That Is Increasing Costs and Threatening Patient Care

A new study assessing the implementation of ObamaCare confirms the worst fears about the government healthcare takeover: that it will increase the cost of healthcare, force employers to pass on those costs to their employees and cause many employees to lose the care they currently have.
It’s the second major study in recent weeks offering significant evidence that ObamaCare will increase costs and cause employees to lose the coverage they currently have.
Despite this mounting evidence that ObamaCare is a disaster for working families, the Democrats continue to defend their government healthcare takeover and make excuses for its failures.

A new study assessing the implementation of ObamaCare confirms the worst fears about the government healthcare takeover: that it will increase the cost of healthcare, force employers to pass on those costs to their employees and cause many employees to lose the care they currently have:

BY A MARGIN OF 8 TO 1, EMPLOYERS EXPECT OBAMACARE TO INCREASE COSTS: “By a margin of 8 to 1, those who believe Health Care Reform will trigger a cost increase outnumber those who believe Health Care Reform will create savings. Yet the survey responses reﬂect that few employers have started to reframe employee expectations relative to Health Care Reform.”(“The Health Care Reform Survey: 2011-2012,” Willis, March 2012)

EMPLOYERS EXPECT THEY AND THEIR COMPETITORS WILL “PASS ANY INCREASED COSTS ON TO EMPLOYEES”: “Surveyed employers have a sense of what similar employers will do in response to Health Care Reform. Over half of the respondents believe that others will pass more of the cost for dependent coverage on to their employees. One-third of respondents think that other, similar employers will reduce coverage to the lowest-cost package that will avoid the “pay-or-play” penalty, and a majority of employers also think that wellness programs will be expanded in scope. Finally, nearly two-thirds of the employers expect that employee contributions will be increased.” (“The Health Care Reform Survey: 2011-2012,” Willis, March 2012)

ONLY A THIRD OF EMPLOYERS WILL MAINTAIN GRANDFATHERED HEALTH PLANS DESPITE A BROAD DESIRE TO DO SO: “Survey respondents indicate that into the second year of Health Care Reform implementation, less than 30% of employers were able to maintain grandfathered status of their health care plans. This rapid loss of grandfathered status far outpaces The Department of Health & Human Services’ expectations. The Preamble to the June 2010 Regulations speculated that by the end of 2011, 78% of employers would retain grandfathered status, by the end of 2012, 62 % would still be grandfathered, and by the end of 2013, 49% would retain grandfathered status. The accelerated loss of grandfathered status suggests that employers have had to make many plan changes to ofset cost increases, and perhaps employers have been more willing to give up grandfathered status in order to take other steps to control costs.” (“The Health Care Reform Survey: 2011-2012,” Willis, March 2012)

MANY EMPLOYERS LIKELY TO END THEIR COVERAGE PLANS, DUMP EMPLOYEES INTO STATE EXCHANGES: “Many employers seem to be struggling with the costs associated with various components of Health Care Reform. The responses to the Willis survey (echoed by responses to other surveys) suggest that employers may, despite their desire to maintain group medical beneﬁts for their employees, shift their focus to state-based exchanges. For some, the only question is when that will happen. Respondents to this survey appear to take incremental steps in compliance rather than big steps to reach a particular strategic goal. This approach aligns most closely with employers who will be more likely to rely upon state-based exchanges in the future.” (“The Health Care Reform Survey: 2011-2012,” Willis, March 2012)

It’s the second major study in recent weeks offering significant evidence that ObamaCare will increase costs and cause employees to lose the coverage they currently have:

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)

Despite this mounting evidence that ObamaCare is a disaster for working families, the Democrats continue to defend their government healthcare takeover and make excuses for its failures:

ONLY 3 DEMOCRATS JOINED EFFORT TO REPEAL OBAMACARE: Final Vote: 245-189. (Roll Call 14, Clerk of the U.S. House, 1/19/2011)

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 thebenefits 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)

DEMOCRATS “ACCEPTING—AND IN SOME CASES OPENLY EMBRACING” OBAMA: “But with the economy slowly crawling back to life, a shift in messaging at the White House and a Republican push on social issues, Democrats are accepting — and in some cases openly embracing — the inevitable yoking of their campaigns to Mr. Obama’s as election-year activities accelerate. On Capitol Hill, Democrats have begun to mention Mr. Obama more often and have gone out of their way to publicly back some of his proposals.” (Jennifer Steinhauer, “Democrats Warn to Obama as a Campaign Ally,” The New York Times, 3/8/2012)

AT HOUSE DEM RETREAT, FORMER PA. GOV ED RENDELL TOLD DEMS TO “STAND AND DEFEND WHAT YOU’VE DONE” BECAUSE “YOU CAN’T RUN AWAY”: “Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who participated in a separate panel on messaging today, said he encouraged Members to ‘stand and defend what you’ve done, because you can’t run away from them.'” (Jessica Brady, “At Retreat, Democrats Urged to Defend Past Record,” Roll Call, 1/26/2012)

BUT OBAMACARE REMAINS POLITICALLY TOXIC:

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)