Research Briefing

Obama Picks A Bad Week To Challenge Health Care Criticism

“President Obama forcefully defended the new health care law on Friday, charging that Republicans have characterized it falsely as a ‘job-crushing, granny-threatening, budget-busting monstrosity. That just doesn't match up to the reality …’” (“Politico 44: Whiteboard,” Politico, 1/28/11)

YET THIS WEEK PROVES IT’S OBAMA WHO’S IGNORING REALITY

“Job-Crushing”…

On Wednesday, Abbott Laboratories Announced It Will Cut Nearly 2,000 Jobs As A Result Of ObamaCare.  “Abbott Laboratories, maker of the rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, said it will cut about 1,900 jobs as part of a restructuring of its pharmaceutical business. … The job cuts come “in response to changes in the health- care industry, including U.S. health-care reform and the challenging regulatory environment,” Abbott said in the statement.” (Alex Nussbaum, “Abbott Labs Cuts 1,900 Jobs After Health Overhaul Prompts Restructuring,” Bloomberg, 1/26/11)

• Abbott Will Pay An Additional $200 Million In Taxes As A Result Of The New Law.  “The health law cost Abbott $200 million last year in increased rebates to Medicaid, the U.S.-backed health plan for the poor, said Adelle Infante, an Abbott spokeswoman, in an e- mail. That will continue in 2011 and the company expects to pay an additional $200 million for the drugmaker-tax and discounts the law requires for patients on Medicare, the government plan for the elderly, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Freyman said during the conference call.”  (Alex Nussbaum, “Abbott Labs Cuts 1,900 Jobs After Health Overhaul Prompts Restructuring,” Bloomberg, 1/26/11)

Also On Wednesday, Restaurant Owner Scott Womack Testified In A Congressional Hearing That ObamaCare’s Mandates Will Cost Him “More Than We Make” Halting Expansion Of His Business. “Scott Womack, owner of 12 IHOP restaurants in Indiana and Ohio, told the committee that the law's mandate that he begin purchasing health insurance for his workers in 2014 is simply unsustainable. It will cost him $7,000 per worker to comply, he said, ‘more money than we make.’ The alternative, to pay a $2,000 penalty per worker, would still eat up 60 percent of his company's earnings, Womack added. As a result, he may be forced to forfeit an agreement to develop additional restaurants, for which he has already invested $360,000.” (N.C. Aizenman, “House Republicans Sharpen Attack On Health-Care Reform In Two Hill Hearings,” The Washington Post, 1/26/11)

• New Jersey Business Owner Joe Olivo Testified That The Insurance He Currently Provides To His 45 Employees Will Need To Be Changed Because Of ObamaCare’s Mandates. “ “Olivo, who currently offers health insurance to his 45 employees, also testified that - in contravention of the president's promise that people who liked their health plans would be able to keep them - his insurer has informed him that his plan will be discontinued. The reason, said Olivo, is that the plan does not offer the level of preventative care coverage required by the new law. ‘After 20-plus years of voluntarily providing coverage for my employees, much of it at my own cost, I am now finding out this coverage is no longer acceptable according to the government,’ he said.” (N.C. Aizenman, “House Republicans Sharpen Attack On Health-Care Reform In Two Hill Hearings,” The Washington Post, 1/26/11)

On Thursday, HHS Announced That They Had To Grant 500 More Waivers Of Coverage Requirements. “While some 500 groups got waivers for a healthcare reform provision setting annual coverage requirements, about 50 requests for such exemptions were denied, the Department of Health and Human Services told The Hill Thursday. A week after Republicans announced an investigation into reform law waivers, HHS made public on Wednesday new waivers for more than 500 groups that would not be able to meet the reform law's new requirement for annual coverage limits in 2011.”  (Jason Millman, “Some Healthcare Waiver Requests Denied Even As HHS Approves 500 Others,” The Hill’s  ”Healthwatch” Blog, 1/27/11)

• ObamaCare Waivers Now Total More Than 700.  “The latest round of approvals bumped the number of waivers from 222 to 729. However, the number of individuals covered by the waivers rose from 1.5 million to just 2.1 million. HHS said it was anticipating the bump because plans were required to file the waiver request before the plan year starts – Jan. 1 for many.”  (Jason Millman, “Some Healthcare Waiver Requests Denied Even As HHS Approves 500 Others,” The Hill’s  ”Healthwatch” Blog, 1/27/11)
• “It Is Worth Noting That There Are 166 Union Benefits Funds Now Exempted From This Requirement, Which Account For About 40 Percent Of The Exempted Workers.”  (David Freddoso, “Union Makes Up 40 Percent Of Employees Exempted From ObamaCare,” Washington Examiner, 1/27/11)

“Granny-Threatening”…

On Wednesday, CMS Actuary Richard Foster Stated That More Than 7 Million People In Medicare Advantage Will Eventually Lose Their Plans As A Result Of ObamaCare.  “As for people getting to keep their health insurance plan, Foster's office is projecting that more than 7 million Medicare recipients in private Medicare Advantage plans will eventually have to find other coverage, cutting enrollment in the plans by about half.  The health care law gradually cuts generous government payments to the plans, so insurers are expected to raise premiums or even drop out. And the main reason seniors have flocked to the private plans is that they offer lower out-of-pocket costs.” (“Medicare Offical Doubts Health Care Law Savings,” The Associated Press, 1/26/11)

• ObamaCare’s Cuts To Medicare Advantage Will Result In Higher Premiums And Reductions In Benefits. “The insurance industry, which estimates the payment cuts from the health overhaul will total approximately $200 billion over a decade, says it can't absorb those cuts on its own, and must pass them onto customers starting next year. ‘Washington can't slash $200 billion out of Medicare Advantage and then try to shift the blame to the health plans that administer the program when those cuts inevitably result in higher premiums and benefit reductions for seniors,’ said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's trade group.” (Janet Adamy, “HHS Warns Medicare Insurers On Rates,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/7/10)
• Even Worse, Seniors Will Have to Pay More For Advantage, Even Though They Are Receiving Less Benefits. "With 2011 government payments to plans fixed at 2010 levels by the new health overhaul law, it is likely that beneficiaries will pay more to get less from Advantage plans next year. The bids will reveal how much."  (Austin Frakt,  Op-Ed, "Medicare Advantage: You Get What You Pay For," Kaiser Health News," 6/14/10)

“Budget-Busting”…

On Tuesday, After Obama’s State Of The Union, The Associated Press Declared The Idea That ObamaCare Saves The Government Money Is “Arguable, At Best.”  “The idea that Obama's health care law saves money for the government is based on assumptions that are arguable, at best.”  (Calvin Woodward, “Fact Check: Obama Ledger Out Of Balance,” The Associated Press, 1/25/11)

• AP: ObamaCare’s Savings From ObamaCare Are “Unrealistic.”  “To be sure, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the law will slightly reduce red ink over 10 years. But the office's analysis assumes that steep cuts in Medicare spending, as called for in the law, will actually take place. Others in the government have concluded it is unrealistic to expect such savings from Medicare.” (Calvin Woodward, “Fact Check: Obama Ledger Out Of Balance,” The Associated Press, 1/25/11)

On Wednesday, CMS Actuary Richard Foster Was Asked About Claims Made By ObamaCare Proponents That You Can Keep Your Health Insurance And ObamaCare Will Bring Down Health Care Costs.  “Foster was asked by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., for a simple true or false response on two of the main assertions made by supporters of the law: that it will bring down unsustainable medical costs and will let people keep their current health insurance if they like it.”  (“Medicare Offical Doubts Health Care Law Savings,” The Associated Press, 1/26/11)

• Foster: “On The Costs Issue, ‘I Would Say False, More So Than True,’ Foster Responded.”  (“Medicare Offical Doubts Health Care Law Savings,” The Associated Press, 1/26/11)
• Foster: “As For People Getting To Keep Their Coverage, ‘Not True In All Cases.’”  (“Medicare Offical Doubts Health Care Law Savings,” The Associated Press, 1/26/11)

… “Monstrosity”

On Tuesday,  A Kaiser Family Foundation And the Harvard School Of Public Health Find That Public Opposition To ObamaCare Is At The Highest Level Since April.   “Public opposition to the health care reform law spiked to a record high in a new poll out today … Fifty percent of Americans have unfavorable views of the law, according to a joint survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. Opposition to the law jumped 9 percentage points from last month and is the highest since April, when Kaiser began asking the question every month.”  (Jennifer Haberkorn, “Poll: Unpopularity Of Reform Spikes,” Politico, 1/25/11)

• Opposition To ObamaCare “Has Been Driven Largely By Independents.” “The new opposition to President Obama’s biggest domestic policy initiative has been driven largely by independents. Fifty-seven percent of independents had an unfavorable view of the law this month, up sharply from 41 percent in December.”  (Jennifer Haberkorn, “Poll: Unpopularity Of Reform Spikes,” Politico, 1/25/11)