Illinois Republican Party

RNC Live Response Recap: Controlling Costs
2/25/2010

Follow the RNC live: www.GOP.com/LiveResponse (see below)

1. President Obama alleged that his bill will lower health care costs for small business (President Obama, White House Health Care Summit, 2/25/10)

Obama's Tax On Health Insurance To Hit Small Business The Hardest. “Small employers would also probably be hit by the taxes — and, again, not because they offer overly generous coverage. Instead, small businesses tend to pay more for their insurance than bigger employers that can negotiate better premiums. And because they do not have large pools of workers to help spread the risk, small employers tend to pay even higher amounts if they have older or sicker workers ...’” (Reed Abelson, “A Proposed Tax On The Cadillac Insurance Plans May Also Hit The Chevys,” The New York Times, 9/20/09)

2. President Obama claimed CBO stated that premiums would go down…but in reality:

CBO Says Senate Dems’ Bill Would Raise Premiums For Americans Purchasing Insurance Individually. “CBO and JCT estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law.” (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), 11/30/09)

3. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) proposed a great idea to lower health care costs for Americans: Tort Reform (Rep. Tom Coburn, White House Health Care Summit, 2/25/10)
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CBO Says Republicans’ Tort Reform Proposal Could Save $54 Billion Over 10 Years. “Congressional budget analysts said Friday that lawmakers could save as much as $54 billion over the next decade by imposing an array of new limits on medical malpractice lawsuits -- 10 times more than previously estimated.” (Lori Montgomery, “Tort Reform Could Save $54 Billion, CBO Says,” The Washington Post, 10/10/09)

Yet,

Howard Dean Admits “Tort Reform Is Not In The Bill… Because The People Who Wrote It Did Not Want To Take On The Trial Lawyers.” “Here is why tort reform is not in the bill. When you go to pass a really enormous bill like that, the more stuff you put in it, the more enemies you make, right? And the reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everyone else they were taking on. And that is the plain and simple truth.” (Howard Dean, Town Hall Meeting, Reston, VA, 8/25/09)

4. Rep. Steny Hoyer stated that this bill will provide for seniors and lower their costs (Rep. Steny Hoyer, White House Health Care Summit, 2/25/10)

Obama’s Plan To Help Seniors By Closing The Medicare “Donut Hole” Could Cost Seniors More Money By Raising Their Premiums 20 Percent, According To CBO.“Overall, CBO estimates that enacting the proposed changes would lead to an average increase in premiums for Part D beneficiaries, above those under current law, of about 5 percent in 2011. That effect would rise over time and reach about 20 percent in 2019.” (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Dave Camp, 8/28/09)

5. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) believes health savings accounts (HSAs) are a good thing, but President Obama's government takeover of health care would do damage to HSAs (Sen. Max Baucus, White House Health Care Summit, 2/25/10)

Obama’s Insurance Regulations Could Force Americans, Their Employers, To Switch From HSAs To More Expensive, Less Flexible Government-Run Plan. “Hundreds of companies now offer Health Savings Accounts to about 5 million employees ... The bills seriously endanger the trend toward consumer-driven care in general. By requiring minimum packages, they would prevent patients from choosing stripped-down plans that cover only major medical expenses. ‘The government could set extremely low deductibles that would eliminate HSAs,’ says John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis ...” (Shawn Tully, “5 Freedoms You’ll Lose In Health Care Reform,” Fortune, 7/24/09)

6. Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, mentions a report that shows President Obama's bill would "bend the cost curve the wrong way." (Rep. Dave Camp, White House Health Care Summit, 2/25/10)

Obama's Bill Would Cause Health Care Spending To Increase By $222 Billion Over 10 Years. “Most significantly, the report finds that national healthcare spending would increase slightly as a result of legislation passed last month by the Senate and questioned whether the legislation would achieve as much savings from Medicare as Democrats predict. The CMS report estimated that national health expenditures would increase by $222 billion or 0.6 percent from 2010 to 2019.” (Alexander Bolton, “CMS Report Raises Doubts Over Medicare Savings Claims,” The Hill, 1/9/10)

7. President Obama claims there will be no government takeover of health care (President Obama, White House Health Care Summit, 2/25/10)

Click here to learn more about how Obama's bill could be a "Highway To Single Payer"

8. Sen. Kyl rightly acknowledges how taxing medical devices will hurt innovation (Sen. Jon Kyl, White House Health Care Summit, 2/25/10)

In Lorain County Ohio, The Threat Of Obama’s Medical Device Tax Is Causing One Of Their Largest Businesses To Stop Hiring. “[I]n the short run, some of his policies could cost existing jobs, especially health-care reform, if it is enacted. One of the few large businesses that has prospered in Lorain County in recent years has been Invacare, a maker of home medical devices, such as walkers and wheelchairs… The company has 1,300 employees in Lorain County but has stopped hiring in anticipation of a tax on medical devices that was proposed to help pay for the president’s health-care reform plan.”(Michael A. Fletcher, “Assessing Obama’s Promises Of Jobs In A Hub Of Manufacturing,” The Washington Post, 1/22/09)

www.GOP.com/LiveResponse

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