Joe Barton on CMS Actuary’s Report

People can usually feel a storm coming and that’s why they turned against ObamaCare last summer. Now the storm is here.’

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today made the following statement on the release of a report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s Office of the Actuary saying that the new ObamaCare law will not reduce costs.

“What’s extraordinary about the report is that the Democrats’ health care promises are evaporating so quickly,” Barton said. “Now Americans are finding that they’re stuck with some of the worst of the health care reform’s many unhappy consequences – higher costs instead of lower, and coverage that you’re going to lose no matter how much you like it. People can usually feel a storm coming and that’s why they turned against ObamaCare last summer. Now the storm is here.”

The new health care law:

• Cuts $575.1 from Medicare between now and September 30, 2019.
• ObamaCare spends more than $828 billion for health care coverage. (CMS didn’t analyze all the tax increases, such as HSAs, FSAs, increasing the AGI threshold, etc.)
• Imposes $87 billion in additional punitive taxes on employers over the 2014-2019 period alone.
• Imposes more than $33 billion in additional punitive taxes on uninsured individuals over the 2015-2019 period alone.
• Leaves 23 million individuals without health insurance coverage in 2019.
• Provides coverage for 34 million people in 2019, of which 18 million will be forced into Medicaid, known for its access problems and substandard payments to providers.
• Increases health care spending to 21 percent of GDP by 2019.
• Uninsured and those employers who don’t offer coverage will pay $120 billion in taxes.
• Causes half of seniors to lose their Medicare Advantage plans.
• Creates another trust fund that is destined for insolvency. Within the next 15 years, the new trust fund for the CLASS program will start to pay out more in benefits than it collects in premiums, causing yet another federal program to add billions of dollars to our national debt.

CMS Analysis Confirms Government Takeover of Health Care Will Increase Costs, Undermine Existing Coverage for Millions

14 Million Americans to Lose Current Employer-Provided Health Coverage

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee’s senior Republican member, issued the following statement in response to a new analysis from the Office of the Actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):

“The independent experts have confirmed what Democrats in Washington, D.C. don’t want you to know: Millions of Americans who like their current coverage are slated to lose it under ObamaCare. Whether it’s working families who receive health benefits at work or seniors who rely on the Medicare Advantage program, the government takeover of health care means millions will be forced out of their current plans.

“As early as December, CMS sounded the alarm over this massive spending binge and entitlement expansion. Unfortunately, Democrat leaders chose to ignore their warning, and now, the American people and future generations are paying the price. Instead of clamping down on runaway health care spending, we now know the new health care law will cause health care spending to increase even more quickly than it would have under the broken status quo.

“In March, I joined Republican leaders in the House and Senate to request this important study. It was our hope the report would be available in time to help inform members of Congress, and the public, before they cast their final votes on health care. It is now clear why Democrat leaders rushed their government-run scheme to a vote before this report could be completed: Their rhetoric simply does not match reality. Instead of lowering health care costs, ObamaCare increases prices, jeopardizes access by expanding the strains on entitlement programs, and leaves our children with the bill.

“It is not too late to spare the American people the devastating consequences of government-run health care. I urge my colleagues to heed this latest warning as evidence of the need to undo this flawed law so we can begin to right the wrong of the Democrats’ government takeover of health care.”

NOTE: The CMS study, which was requested by House and Senate Republicans in March, found that 14 million Americans will lose their employer-provided coverage as a result of the Democrats’ health care legislation, while 7 million seniors – approximately half of all participants – will no longer be covered by Medicare Advantage. The study also projected that health care spending will increase by $331 billion over the next 10 years. # # #

Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 23, 2010 CONTACT: Alexa Marrero or Brian Newell (202) 225-4527