Momentum Builds In Congress
To Defund Health-Care Law
To Defund Health-Care Law
Garth Kant, WND — There is new life in the battle to defund Obamacare, as more lawmakers are willing to use Congress’ power of the purse to stop the health-care law.79 members of Congress have signed a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., asking to “defund the implementation and enforcement of ObamaCare in any relevant appropriations bill brought to the House floor in the 113th Congress.”
The author of the letter, freshman Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., released a copy of the text and all the signatures today.
“Obamacare is not ready, and the way it is being implemented is not fair,” Meadows said.
“By choosing to delay the employer mandate, President Obama demonstrated he knows the law is unworkable. If big businesses get a break, hardworking individuals and families deserve the same relief,” he added.
When Meadows began circulating his letter on Capitol Hill last month he told WND, “The will of the majority of the American people is with us in wanting to move money we would have to spend on Obamacare to other critical areas that have seen substantial cutbacks.”
With the release of the letter today, Meadows said, “We want House leadership to know they have a large group of Members ready to stand with them to stop the president’s destructive and unaffordable health care law.”
Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., said, “As the administration continues to delay portions of the law, it’s becoming clear that Obamacare isn’t ready for primetime, and we must use the power of the purse to slow it down. ”
Meadows says he will keep up the pressure by keeping “a running list of Members who choose to lend their names to this crucial effort. I am pleased so many of my colleagues have signed on and pledged their commitment to keeping health care decisions between patients and their doctors, not patients and Washington bureaucrats.”
Of the 435 members of Congress in the House, 233 are Republicans.
Roll Call reports Heritage Action for America launched a $550,000 online ad campaign Monday that targets GOP lawmakers who haven’t yet signed the letter.
The release of the letter comes on the same day as word that Delta Airlines is reportedly issuing a dire warning to their employees that “their healthcare will be radically changed because of ObamaCare.
Human Events reports, along with the memo, Delta is sharing with its employees a letter it sent to Obama administration in June detailing the extraordinary costs the airline will incur under the health care law.
Delta claims the cost of providing health care to employees will increase by nearly $100,000,000 next year.
It also says the so-called “Cadillac tax” on the more generous health care plans is probably going to wipe out their pilots’ insurance plans in a couple of years.
This all comes on the heel of WND’s recent documentation of 52 major problems with the Affordable Care Act.
52 Major Problems With Obamacare
1) Americans may lose their doctors: The president promised, “No matter what you’ve heard, if you like your doctor or health care plan, you can keep them.” However, that promise is not necessarily true, according to his own Department of Human Health and Services. HHS recently posted the answer to this question on Healthcare.gov: “Depending on the plan you choose in the Marketplace, you may be able to keep your current doctor.”
The government explains, “Most health insurance plans offered in the Marketplace have networks of hospitals, doctors, specialists, pharmacies, and other health care providers. Networks include health care providers that the plan contracts with to take care of the plan’s members. Depending on the type of policy you buy, care may be covered only when you get it from a network provider.”
2) Americans may lose their health plans: Obama promised “you can keep your health plan,” but customers with high deductibles are now discovering their insurance plans do not qualify as “government approved” under Obamacare, so they will be required to change plans. A fact-check review by even the left-leaning Politifact.com found Obama’s promise only “half true” and difficult to predict, due to continuing uncertainties in the implementation of Obamacare.
3) Worsening health care: The New York Times reports as many as 75 percent of health plans will be affected by the so-called “Cadillac tax” on what the administration labels high-end plans. A health-care expert warned consumers should expect their plan is going to be more expensive and they will have fewer benefits. The Times predicts those patients can expect to visit clinics instead of doctors for prescriptions or blood-pressure checks; programs, rather than doctors, to manage such chronic conditions as diabetes; and a health screening to determine one’s odds of developing a costly health condition.
4) Higher premiums: Although Obama claimed his program “would save the average family $2,500 on their premiums,” a Wall Street Journal study revealed premiums for healthy people could actually double, or even triple.
5) Higher taxes: The Heritage Foundation found 20 new or increased taxes in Obamacare, including taxes on investment income, Medicare payroll, the individual and employer mandates, insurance companies, insurance plans, innovator drug companies, medical device manufacturers, medical bills, flexible spending accounts for special-needs children, over-the-counter medicines, parts of Medicare D, Blue Cross/Blue Shield deductions and charitable hospitals.
6) Budget deficit increase: The GAO reports Obamacare will increase the long-term federal deficit by $6.2 trillion.
7) Hiring freezes: A Gallup poll found more than 40 percent of small businesses have frozen hiring because of Obamacare.
8) Slashed workers’ hours: A survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found half of small businesses affected by Obamacare plan to either replace their current full-time workers with part-timers or cut their workers’ hours because of the law’s requirements.
9) Killing existing jobs: The same survey found 24 percent of small businesses plan to cut staff to less than 50 to avoid paying penalties for not providing health insurance.
10) Killing new jobs: One-third of employers cited the uncertainty of Obamacare’s costs and regulations as the biggest obstacle to hiring more workers. New taxes could kill tens of thousands of jobs, possibly causing more layoffs. The employer mandate, once implemented, will be a disincentive for businesses to hire more than 49 full-time workers if the businesses can’t pay for health insurance.
11) Jobs already killed: Layoffs at a south-side Chicago hospital, a Wisconsin health care company, a Pennsylvania community college and cities in Ohio and Pennsylvania have already been attributed to Obamacare.
12) More than 1,200 business waivers: HHS acknowledged issuing businesses more than 1,200 waivers from parts of Obamacare by January 2012. After that, the department stopped updating the total number of waivers because of monthly ridicule from the GOP. Instead, HHS stopped accepting applications for one-year waivers and simply granted or denied waivers through the end of the year.
13) Higher Medicare costs: A Heritage Foundation analysis found Obamacare will force seniors to suffer higher out-of-pocket expenses over the next five years. Payments will be reduced to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and home health-care agencies.
14) Seniors may lose Medicare: Another Heritage Foundation study determined, “Many seniors will experience a reduction in their Medicare Advantage benefits or even a loss of their existing plan.”
15) Americans reject Obamacare: A CBS News poll found 54 percent of Americans disapprove of the health-care law. More Americans than ever, 39 percent, want it repealed.
16) Fewer insurance companies: Businesses providing health insurance dropped from 59 percent to 52 percent from 2000 to 2011.
17) Fewer insurance choices: Two major health care providers, United Healthcare and Aetna, stopped providing coverage in California because of Obamacare’s requirements.
18) Basic health plan delayed: The administration postponed until after the 2014 election the health program for low-to-moderate income people who don’t qualify for expanded Medicaid.
19) Early retiree program broke: A plan intended to insure early retirees between ages 55 and 65, and their dependents, until government-run exchanges are in place quickly ran out of money. HHS stopped accepting new applications in May 2011. By December 2011, the program had spent its $5 billion budget and stopped paying any claims – two years before it was supposed to end.
20) High-risk pools failing: The administration cut payments to doctors and hospitals before it ran out of money to fund the pre-existing condition insurance plan for people with cancer, heart disease and other serious conditions. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius simply announced “health care facilities and providers will get paid less” for providing the same services.
*21) Insurance co-ops failing:
*22) Uninsured children:
*23) Union opposition:
*24) Patients expect worsening care:
*25) Doctors expect worsening care:
*26) Small business plan delayed:
*27) Losing the mainstream media:
*28) Death panels confirmed:
*29) Growing Democratic Party opposition:
*30) Medicare cuts delayed:
*31) States resist Medicaid expansion:
*32) Insurance exchanges unwanted:
*33) Bypassing Congress to change law:
*34) Congress investigates key rule:
*35) Judge OKs suit against HHS:
*36) Critical deadlines missed:
*37) Doctors fleeing and opting out:
*38) Fewer doctor and hospital choices:
*39) HHS mandate challenged:
*40) Employer mandate delayed:
*41) IRS “honor” system open to fraud, abuse:
*42) Fewer child-only plans:
*43) Schools can’t afford insurance:
*44) Young people expected to opt out:
*45) Identity theft risks:
*46) Obamacare con artists:
*47) Public option failure:
*48) Employee free choice repealed:
*49) Obama exempts Congress and staff:
*50) Federal workers don’t want Obamacare:
*51) Involuntary home inspections:
*52) Charitable hospitals threatened:
*Click Full Article Link Below To Read All 52 Problems With Obamacare...
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About the Author
Garth Kant is a WND staff writer. Previously, he spent five years writing, copy-editing and producing at "CNN Headline News," three years writing, copy-editing and training writers at MSNBC, and also served several local TV newsrooms as producer, executive producer and assistant news director. He is the author of the McGraw-Hill textbook, "How to Write Television News."
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