Report Confirms Obamacare Means Higher Costs, Less Coverage

Throughout the months of debate and public protest leading up to the 2010 passage of President Obama's health care bill, the White House repeatedly attempted to assure the American people that the government health care takeover wouldn't be all that intrusive. Various members of the Obama administration, as well as the Pelosi-led Democratic majority that controlled Congress at the time, appeared on the news every day to repeat their mantra: "Those who are happy with their current health care can keep it."

Conservatives warned from the beginning that this claim was false, and now we have data to prove it. According to analysis conducted by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), millions of Americans will lose their health insurance due to Obamacare regulations. The recently released report indicates that 3 to 5 million Americans will be forced out of their employer-provided health insurance each year from 2019 through 2022.

Many employers will simply be unable to afford to provide health insurance due to the costly new requirements mandated by the Obama administration. The Heritage Foundation projects that the average cost of employer-provided insurance will rise by $5.51 per hour for each full-time employee. Although the Obama administration pledged to allow companies to maintain current coverage by grandfathering their insurance plans in under the new law, many plans no longer qualify under the new mandates. According to a survey of 2,300 employers, less than 30 percent of companies have been able to maintain the grandfathered status of their health care plans. This is in sharp contrast to Health and Human Services Department estimates that 78 percent of employers could maintain their current health plan status by the end of 2012. The CBO report predicts that businesses will pay the government $15 billion in fines because so many employers will find the government penalty less expensive than employee insurance.

Where will Americans obtain health insurance if their employers can no longer afford to offer coverage? From the government. The new report finds that 17 million Americans will be added to Medicaid while 22 million will get coverage through government-run exchanges. In short, the concerns that Obamacare would restrict individual medical choices and lead to government-run health care are more than justified.

It should surprise no one that the spending increases created by Obamacare are also worse than advertised. President Obama promised that his plan would cost no more than $940 billion. The new CBO report finds that the actual cost to taxpayers will be $1.8 trillion.

Whether measured in taxpayer dollars or in decreased access to health care, Obamacare is a policy we can't afford. The nation's health care system is certainly not perfect, but the better solution is market-based reform that lowers costs and increases choices. Obamacare's government-based plan does the opposite. House Republicans have already voted to repeal this disastrous law. Although Senate Democrats have blocked repeal, we have succeeded in getting legislation through Congress that chips away at some of the most onerous mandates one by one. With the Supreme Court set to rule soon on the law's constitutionality, we will continue to pursue every available avenue to prevent implementation of this misguided policy before it does any more damage.