Look “Forward”? The Worst of ObamaCare Is On the Way

May 1, 2012

Democrats Won’t Back Down From ObamaCare, and the Government Healthcare Takeover’s Most Disastrous Features Are Yet to Come

President Obama’s latest campaign ad claims Americans should look “forward” to four more years of the Democrats’ failed policies.
However, the next four years of ObamaCare’s implementation would be the worst yet. Families would suffer new job-destroying tax increases, new mandates and dozens of other ObamaCare features that will threaten Americans’ access to quality care.
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ plan for Medicare would bring it ever-closer to bankruptcy in the next four years, with steep benefit cuts or tax increases necessary to keep the program solvent.

President Obama’s latest campaign ad claims Americans should look “forward” to four more years of the Democrats’ failed policies:

“TEAM OBAMA ROLLS OUT ‘FORWARD'”: (Byron Tau, “Team Obama Rolls Out ‘Forward,'” Politico, 4/30/2012)

OBAMA CAMPAIGN CLAIMS THERE IS “STILL MORE TO DO”: “The Obama campaign is out with a new web video Monday that highlights the accomplishments of President Obama’s first three years in office — and concludes that there is ‘still more to do.'” (Byron Tau, “Team Obama Rolls Out ‘Forward,'” Politico, 4/30/2012)

OBAMA AD POINTS TO OBAMACARE AS A REASON TO LOOK “FORWARD” TO FOUR MORE YEARS OF DEMOCRATS: (Byron Tau, “Team Obama Rolls Out ‘Forward,'” Politico, 4/30/2012)

However, the next four years of ObamaCare’s implementation would be the worst yet. Families would suffer new job-destroying tax increases, new mandates and dozens of other ObamaCare features that will threaten Americans’ access to quality care:

2013:

IPAB GOES LIVE: DEMOCRATS’ MEDICARE-GUTTING BOARD OF BUREAUCRATS CREATED UNDER OBAMACARE: “Beginning in 2013, the Board is required to begin its work organized around a standard and repeating three-year cycle of activity, starting in a ―determination year, then proceeding through a ―proposal year and ending with the ―implementation year, as summarized below and in the table that follows.”(Jack Ebeler, Tricia Neuman and Juliette Cubanski, “The Independent Payment Advisory Board: A New Approach to Controlling Medicare Spending,” Kaiser Family Foundation, April 2011)

MEDICARE PAYROLL TAX INCREASES: (David Lightman, “When Health Bill’s Provisions Would Take Effect,” McClatchy, 3/21/2010)

NEW TAX ON MEDICAL DEVICES THAT WILL DISCOURAGE INNOVATION OF NEW LIFESAVING TECHNOLOGIES: (“Implementation Timeline,” Kaiser Family Foundation, Accessed 4/30/2012)

NEW LIMITS ON MEDICAL EXPENSE INCOME TAX DEDUCTIONS:(“Healthcare Reform Law – Implementation Timeline for Small Business,” NFIB, Accessed 4/30/2012)

2014:

INDIVIDUAL MANDATE TO BUY HEALTH INSURANCE GOES INTO EFFECT:(“Healthcare Reform Law – Implementation Timeline for Small Business,” NFIB, Accessed 4/30/2012)

OPPRESSIVE NEW FEES AND PENALTIES HARMING JOB CREATORS GO INTO EFFECT: “Employer mandate: The bill contains a complex employer mandate requiring some firms to provide insurance, pay penalties or both. The penalties are based on (1) the number of full-time (or part-timers counted as full-time equivalent) employees, (2) whether or not the firm offers coverage, and (3) whether or not one or more employees qualify for government subsidies toward the purchase of health insurance. An employee qualifies for a subsidy if his or her household income is below 400% of the federal poverty line ($88,000 for a family of four today). Here are some of the rules.” (“Healthcare Reform Law – Implementation Timeline for Small Business,” NFIB, Accessed 4/30/2012)

$8 BILLION NEW TAX ON SMALL BUSINESSES: “Small business health insurance tax: An annual fee on health insurance providers will be passed on to consumers. This tax will fall on the vast majority of plans that small businesses purchase, but not on self-insured plans (such as most big business and labor union policies). The fee is $8 billion for 2014, $11.3 billion for 2015 and 2016, $13.9 billion for 2017, $14.3 billion in 2018. For years beginning 2019, the $14.3 billion figure will be adjusted upwards for the growth in medical costs.” (“Healthcare Reform Law – Implementation Timeline for Small Business,” NFIB, Accessed 4/30/2012)

TENS OF MILLIONS OF MORE AMERICANS TO FACE RISK OF LOSING INSURANCE, BEING DUMPED INTO MEDICAID: (“Implementation Timeline,”Kaiser Family Foundation, Accessed 4/30/2012)

2015:

OBAMACARE MANDATE FINE TRIPLES TO $325 PER AMERICAN: (“Healthcare Reform Law – Implementation Timeline for Small Business,” NFIB, Accessed 4/30/2012)

2016:

OBAMACARE MANDATE FINE RISES TO NEARLY $700 PER AMERICAN:(“Healthcare Reform Law – Implementation Timeline for Small Business,” NFIB, Accessed 4/30/2012)

TAX DEDUCTIONS FROM MEDICAL EXPENSES EXPIRE FOR SENIORS:“Fewer deductible medical expenses: New limits are placed on the deductibility of medical expenses on individual income tax returns. This provision raises the 7.5% AGI floor on medical expenses deductions to 10%. The AGI floor for those 65 and older (and their spouses) remains at 7.5% through 2016.” (“Healthcare Reform Law – Implementation Timeline for Small Business,” NFIB, Accessed 4/30/2012)

Meanwhile, the Democrats’ plan for Medicare would bring it ever-closer to bankruptcy in the next four years, with steep benefit cuts or tax increases necessary to keep the program solvent.

MEDICARE TRUSTEES SAY MEDICARE WILL GO BANKRUPT IN 2024: “The Medicare Trustees Report released today shows that the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund is expected to remain solvent until 2024, the same as last year’s estimate, but action is needed to secure its long-term future. In 2011, the HI Trust Fund expenditures were lower than expected.” (Press Release, “Medicare Stable, But Requires Strengthening,” Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 4/23/2012)

SENIORS COULD SUFFER 26% BENEFIT CUTS OR 47% TAX INCREASES UNDER DEMS’ MEDICARE PLAN: “Lawmakers could address the long-range financial imbalance in several different ways. In theory, they could immediately increase the standard 2.90-percent payroll tax by the amount of the actuarial deficit to 4.25 percent, or they could reduce expenditures by a corresponding amount. Note, however, that these changes would require an immediate 47-percent increase in the standard tax rate or an immediate 26-percent reduction in expenditures.” (p. 32-33, “2012 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds,” The Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds, 4/23/2012)

“OBAMA BUDGET WANTS MORE TEETH” FOR MEDICARE-GUTTING BOARD CREATED UNDER OBAMACARE: (Phillip Klein, “Obama Budget Wants More Teeth for Medicare Board,” The Washington Examiner, 2/13/2012)

OBAMA LATEST “BUDGET” “STRENGTHENS THE INDEPENDENT PAYMENT ADVISORY BOARD”: “In addition, it strengthens the Independent Payment Advisory Board to reduce long-term drivers of Medicare cost growth.” (p. 112, “The Budget for Fiscal Year 2013: Department of Health and Human Services,” The White House, 2/13/2012)