Dems’ Government Healthcare Takeover So Destructive, It’s Destroying Itself

As House Prepares to Repeal CLASS Program, Democrats’ Government Takeover of Healthcare Continues to Prove Fiscally Unmanageable and Politically Unpopular

• As the House prepares to repeal one of the many failed programs created by the Democrats’ government healthcare takeover, yet another key part of the law is being declared a failure.
• Even as the Democrats’ healthcare disaster continues to self-destruct, Democrats have indicated they will continue defending it at all costs.
• Despite that claim, even President Obama is trying to distance himself from the healthcare law now that he has to face the voters in November. Last week’s State of the Union address featured only one mention of the healthcare law, and it’s not hard to see why with new polls showing a majority of voters continue to favor repeal.

As the House prepares to repeal one of the many failed programs created by the Democrats’ government healthcare takeover, yet another key part of the law is being declared a failure:

HOUSE TO VOTE THIS WEEK ON REPEALING CLASS PROGRAM UNDER DEMS’ GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER: (Sam Baker and Julian Pecquet, “Overnight Health: GOP Prepares Replacement Plan,” The Hill, 1/25/2012)

“CBO REPORT: MEDICARE PILOT PROGRAMS DON’T CONTROL HEALTHCARE COSTS”: (Megan McArdle, “CBO Report: Medicare Pilot Programs Don’t Control Healthcare Costs,” The Atlantic, 1/18/2012)

ANOTHER OBAMACARE BUST: “SPENDING WAS EITHER INCREASED OR UNCHANGED RELATIVE TO THE SPENDING THAT WOULD HAVE OCCURRED IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PROGRAM”:(“Lessons from Medicare’s Demonstration Projects on Disease Management, Care Coordination and Value-Based Payment,” Congressional Budget Office, January 2012)

Even as the Democrats’ healthcare disaster continues to self-destruct, Democrats have indicated they will continue defending it at all costs:

OBAMA HHS SECRETARY KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: “WE KEEP GOING” IF SUPREME COURT SAYS MANDATE IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL: “Sebelius said she’s confident the Supreme Court will uphold the mandate, but that there are alternatives if it doesn’t. ‘I think we keep going,’ she said.” (Sam Baker, “Sebelius: ‘We Keep Going’ if Court Strikes Down Mandate to Have Insurance,” The Hill, 1/24/2012)

CLASS FAILURE RECAP:

HHS OFFICIALS ABANDONED CLASS AFTER DETERMINING IT WAS “TOO FLAWED TO SALVAGE”:“CLASS is by far the biggest piece of healthcare reform to meet its end, and also the first to collapse entirely on its own. Republicans successfully repealed one much smaller provision, and the individual mandate could be struck down by the Supreme Court. 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 Health Care Law,” The Hill, 10/14/2011)

BUT DEMOCRATS WERE WARNED REPEATEDLY THAT THE PROGRAM LOOKED “LIKE A RECIPE FOR DISASTER”: “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)

MEDICARE SCOREKEEPER RICK FOSTER PREDICTED THE “PROGRAM WOULD COLLAPSE IN SHORT ORDER AND REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL SUBSIDIES TO CONTINUE“: (Joseph Rago, “GOP Vets an ObamaCare Program,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/19/2011)

BUT DEMOCRATS “WENT AHEAD ANYWAY”: (Joseph Rago, “GOP Vets an ObamaCare Program,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/19/2011)

Despite that claim, even President Obama is trying to distance himself from the healthcare law now that he has to face the voters in November. Last week’s State of the Union address featured only one mention of the healthcare law, and it’s not hard to see why with new polls showing a majority of voters continue to favor repeal:

KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION: 54% SAY SUPREME COURT SHOULD REJECT INSURANCE MANDATE, ONLY 17% WANT TO KEEP IT IN PLACE: (Louise Radonofsky, “Poll: Most Say High Court Should Reject Insurance Mandate,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/27/2012)

OBAMA STATE OF THE UNION MENTIONS DEMOCRATS’ SIGNATURE “HEALTH CARE LAW”ONLY ONCE: (“Remarks by the President in the State of the Union Address,” The White House, 1/24/2012)