Cost is No Object for Dems Defending ObamaCare

New CBO Numbers Project Healthcare Disaster Will Cost $1.76 Trillion While Forcing Americans Into Government-Run Healthcare

• The latest Congressional Budget Office predictions on the cost of the ObamaCare confirm that the healthcare law will cost nearly double its initial projections.
• Sadly, it’s not the only evidence that ObamaCare is proving to be a costly disaster for families and small businesses. Yet Democrats continue to signal that they don’t care and will “stand and defend” ObamaCare at all costs.
• The Democrats’ stubborn refusal to recognize the failure of their healthcare experiment contrasts sharply with recent polling, which shows Americans continue to believe the healthcare law was a mistake and welcome repeal.

The latest Congressional Budget Office predictions on the cost of the ObamaCare confirm that the healthcare law will cost nearly double its initial projections:

OBAMACARE TO COST $1.76 TRILLION OVER 10 YEARS, 87% MORE EXPENSIVE THAN FIRST PREDICTED: “President Obama’s national health care law will cost $1.76 trillion over a decade, according to a new projection released today by the Congressional Budget Office, rather than the $940 billion forecast when it was signed into law.” (Phillip Klein, “CBO: ObamaCare to Cost $1.76 Trillion Over 10 Years,” The Washington Examiner, 3/13/2012) 

MORE CBO: 17 MILLION WILL BE ADDED TO MEDICAID AND 22 MILLION WILL BE DUMPED INTO EXCHANGES: “But by 2022, according to the CBO, 3 million fewer people will have health insurance through their employer, while 17 million Americans will be added to Medicaid and 22 million will be getting coverage through government-run exchanges.” (Phillip Klein, “CBO Boosts Its Own ObamaCare Cost Estimate,” The Washington Examiner, 3/13/2012) 

OBAMACARE COVERING MILLIONS FEWER AMERICANS: “The revised estimate of the law’s coverage provisions shows about two million fewer people gaining coverage by 2016, reducing the number of uninsured Americans by only 30 million instead of the 32 million projected a year ago.

“While the coverage provisions still add to the deficit, the law in its entirety cuts the deficit because of unrelated provisions, including $500 billion in cuts to Medicare spending.”(Jean Pecquet, “CBO: Obama’s health law to cost less, cover fewer people than first thought,” The Hill, 3/13/2012)

Sadly, it’s not the only evidence that ObamaCare is proving to be a costly disaster for families and small businesses. Yet Democrats continue to signal that they don’t care and will “stand and defend” ObamaCare at all costs:

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) 

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) 

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) 

GALLUP: 48% OF SMALL BUSINESSES NOT HIRING BECAUSE OF AFRAID OF THE RISING COST OF HEALTHCARE: (Dennis Jacobe, “Health Costs, Gov’t Regulations Curb Small Business Hiring,” Gallup, 2/15/2012)

BUT DEMOCRATS ARE DOUBLING DOWN ON OBAMACARE:

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) 

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)

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))

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) 

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

The Democrats’ stubborn refusal to recognize the failure of their healthcare experiment contrasts sharply with recent polling, which shows Americans continue to believe the healthcare law was a mistake and welcome repeal:

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)