Pelosi: ObamaCare’s “Best Is Yet to Come”?

As Democrats Celebrate ObamaCare Decision, Working Families and Small Businesses Suffer the Consequences

• The Supreme Court decision upholding ObamaCare prompted immediate celebrations from top Democrats, who insisted ObamaCare’s “best is yet to come.”
• Meanwhile, working families are suffering under ObamaCare’s mandate tax, rising premiums, Medicare cuts and dropped coverage.
• Small businesses are already suffering under ObamaCare’s crushing regulations and tax increases, and what’s left of Obamacare will only make it harder for them to create jobs.

The Supreme Court decision upholding ObamaCare prompted immediate celebrations from top Democrats, who insisted ObamaCare’s “best is yet to come”:

“PELOSI ON OBAMCARE: ‘THE BEST IS YET TO COME'”: (“Pelosi on ObamaCare: ‘The Best is Yet to Come,'” Real Clear Politics, 6/29/2012)

“DNC STAFFERS CELEBRATE RULING: ‘IT’S CONSTITUTIONAL. BITCHES.'” (Alicia M. Cohn, “DNC Staffers Celebrate Ruling: ‘It’s Constitutional. Bitches.'”, The Hill,  6/28/2012)

STAY CLASSY, DNC: ” ‘Overheard in the office: “TAKE THAT MOTHER******S!!'” (Alicia M. Cohn, “DNC Staffers Celebrate Ruling: ‘It’s Constitutional. Bitches.'”, The Hill,  6/28/2012)

Meanwhile, working families are suffering under ObamaCare’s mandate tax, rising premiums, Medicare cuts and dropped coverage:

“PELOSI ALMOST CALLS HEALTH LAW PENALTY A TAX”: ” ‘It’s a penalty that comes under the tax code,’ Pelosi said on NBC’s ‘Meet The Press’ as host David Gregory pressed her to say whether she agreed with the Supreme Court, which deemed the law constitutional because the fee used to enforce the individual mandate amounts to a tax, or with President Barack Obama, who has maintained the fee is not a tax.

” ‘It’s a ta—it’s a penalty for free riders,’ Pelosi said, nearly uttering the dreaded T-word before cutting herself off.” (Josh Gerstein, “Pelosi Almost Calls Health Law Penalty a Tax,” Politico, 7/1/2012)

CBO: OBAMACARE TO COST 800,000 JOBS: “Director Elmendorf: Yes. The way I would put it is that we do estimate, as you said, that…employment will be about 160 million by the end of the decade.  Half a percent of that is 800,000.” (Jeffrey H. Anderson, “CBO Director Says ObamaCare Would Reduce Employment by 800,000 Workers,” The Weekly Standard, 2/10/2011)

9% INCREASE IN FAMILY HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS IN 2011, WITH OBAMACARE PLAYING A ROLE: (Julie Appleby, “Cost of Employer Insurance Plans Surge in 2011,” Kaiser Health News, 9/27/2011)

9.3% INCREASE IN EMPLOYEES’ SHARE OF PREMIUM COSTS FROM 2011 TO 2012, $235 PER PERSON: “Employees’ share of premium costs increased 9.3% between 2011 and 2012, with the dollar burden rising from $2,529 to $2,764.” (“Performance in an Era of Uncertainty,” Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, March 2012)

$340 BILLION ADDED TO THE DEFICIT BY OBAMACARE, ACCORDING TO MEDICARE TRUSTEE: (Lori Montgomery, “Health-care Law Will Add $340 Billion to Deficit, New Study Finds,” The Washington Post, 4/9/2012)

$1.76 TRILLION COST TO GOVERNMENT OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS: (Phillip Klein, “CBO: ObamaCare to Cost $1.76 Trillion Over 10 Years,” The Washington Examiner, 3/13/2012)

$500 BILLION CUT FROM MEDICARE SO DEMOCRATS COULD PAY FOR OBAMACARE: “It would cut an additional $60 billion from Medicare, bringing total cuts to the program to more than $500 billion over the next 10 years.” (Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, “With Senate ‘Fixes’ Bill, GOP Sees Last Chance to Change Health-Care Reform,” The Washington Post, 3/24/2012)

HEALTHCARE COSTS TO RISE 7.4% AS OBAMACARE TAKES FULL EFFECT: “In 2014, health spending growth is expected to accelerate to 7.4 percent as the major coverage expansions from the Affordable Care Act begin.” (Sean P. Keehan, Gigi A Kuckler, et al, “National Health Expenditure Projections: Modest Annual Growth Until Coverage Expands and Economic Growth Accelerates,” Health Affairs, July 2012)

OBAMACARE TO INCREASE HEALTHCARE COSTS BY $478 BILLION THROUGH 2021: “For 2011 through 2021, national health spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.7 percent annually, which would be 0.9 percentage point faster than the expected annual increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) during this period. During this period, the Affordable Care Act is projected… to add about $478 billion in cumulative health spending.” (Sean P. Keehan, Gigi A Kuckler, et al, “National Health Expenditure Projections: Modest Annual Growth Until Coverage Expands and Economic Growth Accelerates,” Health Affairs, July 2012)

20 MILLION WORKERS COULD LOSE THEIR EMPLOYER-SPONSORED INSURANCE: “A new report from the Congressional Budget Office hands critics of the health reform law a great new talking point: Under a worst-case scenario, the law could lead to 20 million people losing their employer-sponsored insurance in 2019.” (J. Lester Feder, “CBO: ACA Could Jeopardize Workplace Coverage,” Politico, 3/15/2012)

Small businesses are already suffering under ObamaCare’s crushing regulations and tax increases, and what’s left of Obamacare will only make it harder for them to create jobs:

OBAMACARE “UNWORKABLE AND UNAFFORDABLE” FOR SMALL BUSINESSES: “While it may have been ruled constitutional, the Affordable Care Act is truly unworkable and unaffordable for our country’s small business owners – particularly franchise owners.” (Catherine Monson, “Why the Health-Care Ruling May Stop Franchises from Opening New Stores, Creating New Jobs,” The Washington Post,6/29/2012)

AT LAST COUNT, OBAMACARE REGULATIONS AT 5,931 PAGES: (David Hogberg, “ObamaCare’s 5,931 Pages of Regulations,” Investor’s Business Daily, 3/23/2012)

73% OF SMALL BUSINESS JOB CREATORS CITE OBAMACARE AS AN “OBSTACLE TO HIRING NEW WORKERS”: (Peter Schroeder, “Survey: Uncertainty, Gas Prices Slowing Hiring by Small Business,” The Hill, 4/16/2012)

21 OBAMACARE TAX HIKES IN EFFECT OR ON THE WAY: (“Supreme Court’s Health Law Decision Leaves in Place 21 Tax Hikes Costing More Than $675 Billion,” House Committee on Ways and Means, 6/28/2012)

NEW ESTIMATE OF JUST PART OF THE OBAMACARE TAX HIKES IS ALREADY AT LEAST $675 BILLION: (Thomas A. Barthold, “Revenue Estimates,” Joint Committee on Taxation, 6/15/2012)

BUT TOTAL TAX INCREASE COULD EXCEED $804 BILLION: (“Supreme Court’s Health Law Decision Leaves in Place 21 Tax Hikes Costing More Than $675 Billion,” House Committee on Ways and Means, 6/28/2012)

57% OF SMALL BUSINESSES ARE “VERY” OR “SOMEWHAT” LIKELY TO DROP HEALTH COVERAGE FOR WORKERS: “Should employees begin to leave for an exchange, 26 percent of currently offering small employers are very likely to explore dropping their health insurance plans and another 31 percent are somewhat likely to do so.” (“Small Business and Health Insurance: One Year After Enactment of PPACA,” NFIB, 5/24/2012)

1 IN 8 SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE ALREADY SEEN THEIR HEALTH COVERAGE TERMINATED DUE TO OBAMACARE: “One in eight small businesses told the National Federation of Independent Business that since the health law passed in 2010, their health insurer had either terminated their plan or notified them it is going to be eliminated. … Dennis said the NFIB was ‘not aware of any data that suggested’ insurers had dropped coverage of small businesses in such large numbers in years before the passage of the health law. For this reason, they felt confident the health law was the cause, he said.” (Bara Vaida, “Some Small Businesses Say Health Insurers Are Dropping Their Coverage,” Kaiser Health News, 7/25/2011)