Obamacare is “working fine,” President Obama said yesterday in his press conference. It’s made health insurance “stronger, better, more secure than it was before.”
There are just a few slight details left to be implemented, but we shouldn’t worry about those, according to the President.
Right. There’s nothing to worry about, which is why Members of Congress are trying to exempt themselves and their staffs from Obamacare.
In reality, health insurance premiums are rising, and states—meaning taxpayers—are staring down some astronomical expenses. A new study from the Government Accountability Office cites Obamacare and Medicaid costs as budget busters for states that are just starting to get their budgets in order.
One of the biggest ways Obamacare planned to cover the uninsured was expanding Medicaid, the government health care program for low-income children, disabled Americans, pregnant women, and seniors. But this program isn’t quality care, and it needs major reforms. Heritage’s Nina Owcharenko, the Preston A. Wells, Jr. Fellow, has explained that expanding Medicaid is bad for patients and taxpayers alike. “Greater dependence on federal dollars tangles the states in bad fiscal policy and bad health care policy,” Owcharenko says.
Yesterday, President Obama dismissed Obamacare opposition from the states as political. But it’s a very real bottom-line issue. Heritage research shows that 40 of 50 states would see increases in costs due the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. In just three years, costs would exceed any potential savings that have been suggested.
>>> See How Much Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion Would Cost Your State
A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that more than half of Americans (53 percent) “approve of efforts by opponents to change or stop the law ‘so it has less impact on taxpayers, employers, and health care providers.'”
It sounds like Americans know better than the President how Obamacare is really going.
LEARN MORE:
Bust 10 Myths About Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion
Hear from the states: Reports from Florida and Arkansas
Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad.
Quick Hits:
- President Obama said in his press conference yesterday that he was not aware of Benghazi survivors being blocked from testifying about the attack.
- Plan B, or the morning-after pill, will move from behind the pharmacy counter to store shelves and will be available to girls as young as 15.
- The jury has begun deliberations in the murder trial of Kermit Gosnell, who ran the abortion house of horrors.
- Workers around the world are rallying today in May Day protests, including a labor union strike in Greece.
- Last night, Heritage President Jim DeMint explained why the Gang of Eight’s immigration plan is “unfair, costs too much, and will make the problem worse.” Watch here.
