ObamaCare In Court

Statement

This week, a federal judge cast a cloud of doubt on the constitutionality of ObamaCare, ruling that a lawsuit initiated by 20 states -- including Texas -- could proceed regarding the health care law's individual mandate for Americans to purchase health insurance.

As you may remember, Democrats' health care law requires Americans to buy government-approved health insurance and empowers the IRS to verify that you have "minimum essential coverage" or else fine you up to $695 or 2.5 percent of your income (whichever is greater). The IRS will need to hire up to 16,500 new employees to enforce this provision as well as other tax increases in the new health care law.

Citing the individual mandate as a legitimate constitutional question, yesterday U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson stated:

The individual mandate applies across the board. People have no choice and there is no way to avoid it. Those who fall under the individual mandate either comply with it, or they are penalized. It is not based on an activity that they make the choice to undertake. Rather, it is based solely on citizenship and on being alive.

While ObamaCare undergoes a no-doubt lengthy legal battle, the Department of Health and Human Services is reportedly spending $3 Million of your tax dollars to advertise the government-takeover of health care that remains wildly unpopular with the American people. Here's what the ObamaCare public relations campaign will not tell you.

Seniors Pay More for Less
Democrats' health care law cuts nearly $570 Billion from Medicare to bankroll a new entitlement for non-seniors. As a result, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expects that 7.4 million Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will lose their plan by 2017, and next year alone, 1.2 million seniors will be forced out of their Medicare Advantage plan or prescription drug plan. And according to a recent analysis, those seniors who manage to keep Medicare Advantage coverage will have their benefits cut by an average of $3,714 per year -- with 70 percent of the benefit cuts hitting seniors with incomes under $32,400.

Already, some seniors are losing their current coverage: over 22,000 seniors in New England will lose their Medicare Advantage plans at the end of the year due to the impact of ObamaCare.

Additionally, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that Medicare prescription drug coverage premiums will increase by 9 percent as a result of the Democrats' health law.

Doctors and Hospitals Close Their Doors
While some North Texas physicians are already closing their practices due to the coming impact of ObamaCare, a growing number of doctors are forced to drop Medicare or limit the number of Medicare patients they see.

Reported from the Texas Medical Association, nearly half of Texas doctors are not seeing new Medicare patients, while hundreds of Texas doctors are forced to stop accepting Medicare altogether due to inadequate and unpredictable Medicare reimbursements. Additionally, several national physician associations note a sizeable increase in the number of doctors who are limiting new Medicare services.

True to prediction, in April CMS actuaries estimated that the $570 Billion Medicare cuts contained in the Democrats' health law could threaten seniors' access to care and cause providers to stop treating Medicare patients altogether. And more recently, CMS actuaries stated that 40 percent of health care facilities could drop Medicare by 2050.

In a revealing admission, last month the Obama Administration asked Congressional Democrats for $250 million in additional funding to "increase the primary care health workforce" due to an impending shortage of doctors for the new health care reform law.

But it's not just doctors who are closing their doors -- hospitals are also on the hook. In Pennsylvania, three hospitals have been put up for sale, with ObamaCare cited as a main reason for the decision. The hospitals cannot survive the $155 Billion Medicare payment cuts to hospitals under the new health care law.

If You Like Your Coverage, You Can't Actually Keep It
Under the broad powers of the new health care law, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury released new regulations -- in which the Obama Administration predicts that their new law could force up to 117 million Americans to lose their current health plans.

In Texas and across the nation, some insurance carriers have already begun eliminating plans -- including new child-only policies -- due to ObamaCare.

But the cost on employers will also be a major reason that Americans lose their current coverage. The rising costs of health coverage coupled with the health care law's debilitating regulations and tax increases on businesses will result in fewer employers able to afford health insurance for their employees.

Health Care Costs Are Skyrocketing
All across the nation, employees and individuals are seeing sizeable increases in their health insurance premiums -- thanks in no small part to the tsunami of new federal mandates in the 2,700-page health care law.

Health insurance companies are increasing premiums by up to 23 percent to account for the rising cost of care and ObamaCare. For example, in Georgia reports indicate that health insurance premiums are increasing at the fastest rate in five years.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Democrats' health law will increase premiums for millions of families by up to $2,100 on average by 2016 -- meaning that coverage will be $2,100 more expensive than it would have been if Congress had just left the current system alone.

CMS actuaries predicted that the new health law will increase national health care spending by over $300 Billion -- a far cry from President Obama's promises to "control costs."

With rising health care costs, some employers -- especially small business owners - may find it financially necessary to drop health insurance altogether and instead pay a $2,000 penalty per employee.

Patient-Centered Solutions
I am firmly committed to repealing the government-takeover of health care and replacing it with common-sense reforms to increase access to quality, affordable health care. Here are just several of the patient-centered solutions that I support:

* Universal Access Programs for those with Pre-Existing Conditions: Expand high-risk pools.

* Tort Reform: Model successful tort reform for the U.S. on Texas law, saving taxpayers $54 Billion.

* Common-Sense Insurance Reforms: Eliminate an insurance company's ability to drop individuals for getting sick, or from placing arbitrary caps on annual or lifetime spending.

* Small Business Health Plans: Allow small businesses to band together to create larger pools to bring down health care costs, and increase choice and options.

* Reward Innovation: Provide incentive payments and more flexibility for States that come up with innovative, efficient and successful ways to cover their uninsured.

* Plan Portability: Allow individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines to provide plan ownership from job to job and/or state to state.

* Prevention and Wellness: Give employers flexibility for encouraging healthier behavior.

* Expanded Use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): Create incentives for all individuals to participate in HSAs for future and long-term health care needs.

* Young Adults on Parents' Coverage: Up to age 25 for all children.

* Individual Use of Pre-Tax Dollars for all Health Care Expenditures: Give everyone the same tax advantage that unions and corporations currently enjoy.

Repealing and replacing ObamaCare is one of my top priorities in Congress. Our nation -- our families -- cannot afford Democrats' government-takeover of health care. Every American should have access to quality, affordable health care of their choice, and I will continue working to achieve this goal through solutions that empower patients and their doctors -- not the government -- to make health care decisions.

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