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Democrats Aren’t Working: Families Now Face Higher Healthcare Costs

September 3, 2012

Democrats Aren’t Working: Families Now Face Higher Healthcare Costs

ObamaCare Is Exploding Healthcare Costs and Causing Higher Premiums for Working Families

  • A recent study shows that ObamaCare is exploding healthcare costs for employers, causing higher premiums and dropped coverage for workers.

  • Even as the Democrats cut Medicare to pay for ObamaCare, their healthcare law is failing to deliver on its central promise of lowering premiums and healthcare costs.

  • These rising healthcare costs will take a toll on the economy, and Democrats still refuse to admit that we can’t afford ObamaCare.

A recent study shows that ObamaCare is exploding healthcare costs for employers, causing higher premiums and dropped coverage for workers:

STUDY: HEALTHCARE COSTS TO RISE 6.2% IN 2012: “Employers anticipate total health care costs will reach $11,664 per active employee in 2012, up from $10,982 in 2011 — a 6.2% increase in total costs over the period.” (“Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,” 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, August 2012)

RISING PREMIUMS FOR EMPLOYEES: “Employees, on average, paid 23.0% of total premium costs in 2011 and are expected to pay 23.7% in 2012, as companies take steps to control their costs.  In paycheck deductions, this translated into an average employee contribution of $2,529 to premiums in 2011, which is expected to rise to $2,764 in 2012 — a 9.3% increase in one year.” (“Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,” 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, August 2012)

RISING OUT OF POCKET COSTS: “The share of total health care expenses paid by employees, including premium and out-of-pocket costs, is expected to be 34.4% in 2012, up from 33.2% in 2011.” (“Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,” 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, August 2012)

DROPPED COVERAGE FOR WORKERS AND RETIREES:

20% OF EMPLOYERS TO DROP COVERAGE: “Nearly one in five companies is likely to offer health care coverage to a subset of its workforce and direct the remainder of its employees to the insurance Exchanges.” (“Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,” 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, August 2012)

RETIREES LOSING COVERAGE: “If [Obamacare] works as intended, the health insurance market in 2014 and beyond will become an attractive alternative and further push companies to exit sponsorship of their pre-65 programs.” (“Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,” 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, August 2012)

EMPLOYER CONFIDENCE IN MAINTAINING HEALTH BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES IS AT A RECORD LOW: “Against the backdrop of [Obamacare], companies have never been more uncertain about the future of their health care programs over the long term….With the health care marketplace changing rapidly and parts of [Obamacare] already starting to take effect, employer confidence is at its lowest point (23%) since we began tracking this data.” (“Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,” 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, August 2012)

OBAMACARE PAPERWORK CRUSHING EMPLOYERS: 15% CITE COST OF COMPLIANCE AS ONE OF THE “BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO MAINTAINING AFFORDABLE BENEFIT COVERAGE.” (“Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,” 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, August 2012)

EMPLOYERS CUTTING HOURS SO THEY DON’T HAVE TO PROVIDE HEALTH BENEFITS: “Nearly 40% of companies that traditionally use a high number of part-time workers expect to limit them to less than 30 hours per week by 2014 to escape having to pay benefits.” (“Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,” 17th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, August 2012)

Even as the Democrats cut Medicare to pay for ObamaCare, their healthcare law is failing to deliver on its central promise of lowering premiums and healthcare costs:

DEMOCRATS CUT MORE THAN $700 BILLION FROM MEDICARE TO PAY FOR OBAMACARE:(Douglas Elmendorf, “Letter to the Honorable John Boehner,”Congressional Budget Office, 7/24/2012)

OBAMA IN 2007: OBAMACARE WILL REDUCE PREMIUMS BY $2,500: “I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year.” (J.B. Wogan, “No Cut in Premiums for Typical Family,” Politifact.com, 8/31/2012)

MORE: OBAMA IN 2009: “Coupled with comprehensive reform, this could result in our nation saving over $2 trillion over the next 10 years, and that could save families $2,500 in the coming years — $2,500 per family.” (“Statement by the President After Meeting With House Democratic Leadership,” The White House, 5/13/2009)

POLITIFACT: “PROMISE BROKEN”: (J.B. Wogan, “No Cut in Premiums for Typical Family,” Politifact.com, 8/31/2012)

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

These rising healthcare costs will take a toll on the economy, and Democrats still refuse to admit that we can’t afford ObamaCare:

98% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED IN JAN 2011 AGAINST REPEALING OBAMACARE: (Roll Call 14, Clerk of the U.S. House, 1/19/2011)

96% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING OBAMACARE AGAIN: (Roll Call 270, Clerk of the U.S. House, 4/14/2011)

97% OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTED AGAIN THIS JULY TO KEEP OBAMACARE IN PLACE: (Roll Call 460, Clerk of the U.S. House, 7/11/2012)

GROSS COST OF OBAMACARE: $1.68 TRILLION: (Douglas Elmendorf, “Letter to the Honorable John Boehner,”Congressional Budget Office, 7/24/2012)

$1 TRILLION IN OBAMACARE TAX HIKES OVER 2013-2022: (Douglas Elmendorf, “Letter to the Honorable John Boehner,” Congressional Budget Office, 7/24/2012, p.6)

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE: OBAMACARE TO DESTROY 800,000 JOBS: QUESTION: “…that means that in your estimation, the health care law would reduce employment by 800,000 in 2021; is that correct?” DOUGLAS ELMENDORF, CBO Director: “Yes.” (Remarks from Douglas Elmendorf, House Budget Committee Hearing, 2/10/2011)

UBS RESEARCH: OBAMACARE IS “ARGUABLY THE BIGGEST IMPEDIMENT TO HIRING”: “Arguably the biggest impediment to hiring (particularly hiring of less skilled workers) is healthcare reform… By raising the cost of labor, healthcare reform systematically discourages hiring, especially of low-wage workers whose mandated benefits are high relative to their wages.” (“Great Suppression II,” UBS Research, Pgs.1, 5, 9/19/2011) 

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) 

Democrats Aren’t Working: Families Now Face Higher Healthcare Costs http://ow.ly/dpENS#iwantrepeal