The 10 Worst Provisions in the Senate Health Care Bill
While it would appear that the health care bill is constantly changing, it’s actually not. The big upcoming House vote will be on the Senate bill (H.R. 3590), exactly as it passed the Senate on Christmas Eve. It still includes dozens of corrupt special-interest deals like the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, Chris Dodd’s $100M University of Connecticut Hospital earmark, etc. There are a lot of promises being made right now that the bill will be fixed or improved in various ways after it passes, possibly via reconciliation. It’s very important to understand, however, that once the House passes the Senate bill it goes to the president to be signed into law.
Here’s a refresher on the 10 Worst Provisions in this bill (H.R. 3590):
1) Spends Way Too Much: $2.5 trillion over the first ten years that the plan is fully implemented
2) Raises Taxes During a Recession: Hikes taxes $493 billion with new levies on so-called “Cadillac” plans, a new Medicare payroll tax on higher-income earners, and taxes on health insurance and drug manufacturing companies, which are sure to be passed on consumers in the form of higher premiums
3) Individual Mandate: Requires individuals to carry health insurance or exacts a fine up to $750
4) Business Burdens: taxes employers with more than 50 full-time workers if they are not offered insurance. CBO estimates employers would opt to drop as many as 5 million workers from private insurance, and pay the fine instead of maintaining current coverage
5) Huge Medicaid Expansion: an estimated 40 percent expansion of the entitlement program would greatly increase costs for government and taxpayers. States would be forced to manage the increased load. However, the federal government would pick up a large share of the new cost
6) Insurance Companies can still Limit Benefits: Although one of the prime reasons for this entire effort was to force insurance companies to live up to their commitments, the Senate bill would only ban lifetime-benefit caps. Insurance companies can still invoke yearly limits that will have essentially the same effect
7) Bad for Seniors: Cuts $120 billion from Medicare Advantage, which CBO says will result in fewer seniors with access to vision, dental and flu shots. Ultimately, up to 2.6 million seniors could lose their Medicare Advantage coverage
More Bureaucracy: Creates comparative effectiveness panels, a Medicare Advisory Board and a Health Care Commissioner, all of whom would be responsible for oversight of the greatly-expanded government role in health care and invoking rationing in attempts to contain cost
9) Doesn’t Tackle Tort Reform: Despite the president’s commitment to lower medical liability costs, the bill only contains a “Sense of Senate” provision, with no real reforms that could save up to $54 billion over ten years
10) Auto-Enrollment: Businesses with more than 200 workers will be required to automatically enroll employees in health coverage
from www.americansforprosperity.org
Print this to take with you to the “Seeing Red” rally on Thursday at 11:30 at Bob Etheridge’s office in Raleigh at 333 Fayetteville Street. We have been informed that Obama’s “Organizing For America” will be there to protest our rally.
