Americans Are Paying the Price for the Democrats’ Healthcare Failure

September 30, 2011

As Government Healthcare Takeover Heads to Supreme Court, Americans Are Already Paying the Price Through Higher Premiums and Threatened Access to Care

The Obama administration this week asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the ongoing legal battle over the constitutionality of the Democrats’ government takeover of healthcare. But Americans don’t need the Supreme Court to tell them law is increasing healthcare costs and compromising quality of care.
A report out this week confirms that the Democrats’ healthcare takeover may be increasing the cost of healthcare, and this is before main elements of the law even go into effect.
Other recent revelations suggest that the healthcare law will lead to longer wait times, threaten quality of care for patients and prove to be a “fiscal disaster.” Yet Democrats continue to defend their healthcare disaster as if nothing is wrong.

BACKGROUND

The Obama administration this week asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the ongoing legal battle over the constitutionality of the Democrats’ government takeover of healthcare. But Americans don’t need the Supreme Court to tell them law is increasing healthcare costs and compromising quality of care:

“The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear a case concerning the 2010 health care overhaul law. The development came unexpectedly fast and makes it all but certain that the court will soon agree to hear one or more cases involving challenges to the law, with arguments by the spring and a decision by June, in time to land in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign.” (Adam Liptak, “Administration Asks Justices to Rule Quickly on Health Law,” New York Times, 9/28/2011)

A report out this week confirms that the Democrats’ healthcare takeover may be increasing the cost of healthcare, and this is before main elements of the law even go into effect:

“SHARE OF WORKERS GETTING LESS GENEROUS COVERAGE REACHED A NEW HIGH,” EVEN THOUGH PREMIUMS CONTINUED TO RISE: “Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance continued to escalate this year even as the share of workers getting less generous coverage reached a new high, according to survey data released Tuesday.

“In 2011, for the first time, half of workers at small firms with individual policies faced annual deductibles of $1,000 or more. In 2006, that figure was 16 percent. At large firms, the share has grown from 6 percent to 22 percent over the same five years.” (NC Aizenman, “Surveys: Health Insurance Costs Shifted to Workers, Even as Premiums Surge,” The Washington Post, 9/27/2011)

KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION: “PREMIUMS FOR FAMILY PLANS ROSE 9 PERCENT”:“At the same time, the survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that premiums for family plans rose 9 percent in 2011, after several years of slower annual growth.”(NC Aizenman, “Surveys: Health Insurance Costs Shifted to Workers, Even as Premiums Surge,” The Washington Post, 9/27/2011)

DYNAMIC OF “CONTINUALLY CLMBING PREMIUMS” REMAINS THE SAME: “Both sources point to the same fundamental long-term shift: Faced with continually climbing premiums, a record share of employers have moved to plans that require workers to pay more out of pocket.” (NC Aizenman, “Surveys: Health Insurance Costs Shifted to Workers, Even as Premiums Surge,” The Washington Post, 9/27/2011)

“Employers’ average annual family premium for 2011 was $15,073, up from $13,770 last year. For a single worker, the figure was $5,429, up 8% from $5,049 in 2010.”(Anna Wilde Matthews, “Employers’ Health-Care Premiums Jump 9%,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/28/2011)

BUT OBAMA PROMISED THAT PREMIUMS WOULD GO DOWN: “Your employer, it’s estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent … which means they could give you a raise.” (“Will Health Care Bill Lower Premiums?”, Associated Press, 3/17/2010)

AGAIN: “We agree on reforms that will finally reduce the costs of health care. Families will save on their premiums; businesses that will see their costs rise if we do nothing will save money now and in the future.” (“Remarks by the President After Meeting with Senate Democrats,” The White House, 12/15/2009)

AND AGAIN: “All this is going to lower premiums. It’s going to make health care more affordable. It’s going to give you more security. That’s the concept behind what we’re implementing.” (“Remarks by the President in a Backyard Discussion on Health Care Reform and the Patient’s Bill of Rights,” The White House, 9/22/2010)

AND AGAIN: “This law will lower premiums. It is limiting costs.” (“Remarks by the President at the Families USA Health Action Conference,” The White House, 1/28/2011)

Other recent revelations suggest that the healthcare law will lead to longer wait times, threaten quality of care for patients and prove to be a “fiscal disaster.” Yet Democrats continue to defend their healthcare disaster as if nothing is wrong:

LONGER WAIT TIMES:

HEALTH CARE LAW “WILL MEAN LONGER LINES AND WAIT TIMES FOR MOST PEOPLE TO SEE A DOCTOR”: (Dave Flessner, “Health Care Reform Will Bring Coverage to More Tennesseans,” Chattanooga Times-Free Press, 9/24/2011)

“THERE WILL BE A STRAIN ON THE SYSTEM’S ABILITY TO SUPPLY SERVICES”: “ ‘Since the number of providers will not increase in the short run, there will be a strain on the system’s ability to supply services,’ said Dr. Steve Coulter, president of the BlueCross-funded Tennessee Health Institute and author of the study of health care reform in the Volunteer State. ‘That may mean, generally speaking, worse access to services for those who are currently insured.’” (Dave Flessner, “Health Care Reform Will Bring Coverage to More Tennesseans,” Chattanooga Times-Free Press, 9/24/2011)

PREMIUMS INCREASING:

OHIO REPORT: INDIVIDUAL INSURANCE POLICIES COULD JUMP 55 TO 85% DUE TO GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER: “Ohioans who buy individual insurance policies could see their premiums jump 55 to 85 percent in 2014 when key provisions of the new federal health-care law kick in, according to a new report.” (Catherine Candisky, “Insurance Premiums Expected to Increase, Report Says,” The Columbus Dispatch, 9/20/2011)

AND THAT’S BEFORE COUNTING MEDICAL INFLATION OF 7-8% ANNUALLY: “The increases do not include medical inflation which has been pushing health care costs up about 7 to 8 percent a year.” (Catherine Candisky, “Insurance Premiums Expected to Increase, Report Says,” The Columbus Dispatch, 9/20/2011)

A “FISCAL DISASTER”:

“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)

DEPUTY HHS SECRETARY TOLD TOP DEMS THAT PROGRAM LOOKED “LIKE A RECIPE FOR DISASTER”: “The emails, obtained by a joint Republican panel led by Sen. John Thune and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, reveal that the administration knew the program was designed to fail and went ahead anyway. A Health and Human Services deputy secretary repeatedly warned his superiors and Democratic staff on the Hill that the Class program ‘seems like a recipe for disaster to me.’ Later, he even suggested that Democrats include a ‘failsafe’ for public support.” (Joseph Rago, “GOP Vets an ObamaCare Program,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/19/2011)