Committee Statements

As a practicing physician for more than 30 years, I experienced first-hand the marvels of the U.S. health care system and how it has helped improve the lives of countless individuals. But I also saw the challenges of our health care system, one that is too bureaucratic, too costly, and leaves too many Americans without the coverage they need to care for themselves and their loved ones.

Health care reform should have been an opportunity to preserve and build on what works with commonsense, market-based reforms that would expand access to more affordable coverage. Instead, a costly government takeover of health care was imposed on the American people, and five years later the law continues wreaking havoc on families, businesses, and even schools. It’s hard to recall a time when supporters of a law promised so much and delivered so little.

The American people were promised that if they liked their health care plan they could keep it. Not true. Millions of Americans have received letters notifying them that their health insurance is being cancelled because it doesn’t comply with the dictates of the health care law. Patients have learned in horror that their trusted doctors are no longer in their health insurance networks. And it will only get worse. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects seven million people will lose their employer-sponsored coverage over the next 10 years.

The American people were promised health care costs would go down. In fact, the president promised to lower premiums for the average family by $2,500. Not true. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, health care costs for the average family increased by 26 percent during the last five years. The average employee with an employer-sponsored insurance plan experienced a seven percent increase in their share of health care costs.

Finally, the American people were told the health care law would boost the economy. Again, not true. More than 450 employers have publicly stated they are cutting hours or making other staffing changes to avoid the law’s punitive mandates, including the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Trig’s Supermarkets and Coach’s Fast Food in Wisconsin, Shari’s restaurants in Oregon, and the Henrico County School District – as well as other school districts – across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the law will result in two million fewer full-time workers.

Many of these difficult changes are taking place in the service industry, which means lower-wage workers are bearing the brunt of the ObamaCare burden. Schools are also cutting hours, undermining the quality of education America’s students deserve. We’ve heard time and again from the administration that these are mere anecdotes or, in the words of then-Secretary Sebelius, “speculation.” Yet even those who supported the health care law have no choice but to recognize its harmful consequences.

Members of the AFL-CIO endorsed a resolution that warned of an “underclass of less than 30-hour-workers” as employers seek to avoid paying penalties under the health care law. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and other union leaders said the law will “shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle-class.” Finally, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers lamented that the law “imposes increased benefit costs, fees, and new taxes on our [multiemployer health care] plans.”

Unfortunately, more pain is right around the corner. In just a few short years, nearly half of all large employers will be hit by the so-called “Cadillac tax.” It’s estimated the federal government will collect more than $85 billion through this tax over the next decade. That’s money that could be used to raise wages or create new jobs; instead it will go into the coffers of the federal government. And don’t forget, that right now, the Supreme Court is deciding a case that may result in millions of Americans being stuck with government-run health insurance they cannot afford.

Remarkably, when it’s all said and done – after all the broken promises, fewer jobs, lost wages, website glitches, and cancelled health care plans – 35 million individuals will still be without health insurance. The American people can no longer afford this costly mistake. It is time to move the country away from this government-run health care scheme and toward a more patient-centered health care system.

A key part of that effort is oversight hearings like the one we are holding today. Congress must shine a light on the president’s fatally flawed law. We have a very distinguished panel of witnesses to help us do just that. I would note for my colleagues that today’s panel includes three employers to share their perspectives on how the law is impacting their workplaces. I look forward to a robust discussion.

 

# # #