[StBernard] IT'S NOT JUST THE PROCESS, MR. PRESIDENT

[Westley Annis]

IT'S NOT JUST THE PROCESS, MR. PRESIDENT
Americans Strongly Oppose The Substance Of Obama's Government-Run Health
Care Experiment
 
View This Research Briefing At GOP.com
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8360> 
 
OBAMA CLAIMS: "The Public Has Soured On The Process That They Saw Over The
Past Year.  I Think That Actually Contaminates How They View The Substance
Of The Bills."(Carrie Budoff Brown, Obama: No 'Political Theater,'"
Politico's "Live Pulse" Blog
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8361> , 2/9/10)
 
BUT AMERICANS KNOW COSTS WILL GO UP, AND THEY DON'T LIKE IT
 
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: "30.5 Percent Said Their Personal Finances
Would Be Worse Under A Health Care Overhaul, Compared To 24.5 Percent Last
Month." (Erica Werner, "Poll Shows Growing Fears On Health Care Overhaul,"
The Associated Press
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8358> , 1/25/10)
 
CBO Says Premiums Would Be Higher Under Reform Than Without Under The Senate
Dems' Plan For Those Who Don't Get Employer-Based Health Care. "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)
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8367> , 11/30/09)
 
AND AMERICANS KNOW THEY'LL LOSE WHAT THEY HAVE
 
"33 Percent Of Respondents Said They Believed Their Access To Care Would Be
Worse If A Health Care Overhaul Occurred, A Jump From 25 Percent In The
[Robert Wood Johnson Foundation] Poll Released Last Month." (Erica Werner,
"Poll Shows Growing Fears On Health Care Overhaul," The Associated Press
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8358> , 1/25/10)
 

*	Businesses To Drop Benefits Or Raise Out-Of-Pocket Costs For Their
Plans. "Two-thirds of employers would raise deductibles, change insurers or
scale back coverage to avoid the so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost
benefits proposed in the Senate Democrats' health care bill, according to a
survey released today by consulting firm Mercer." (Julie Appleby, "New
Survey: 'Cadillac Tax' Would Force Employers To Trim Health Insurance
Costs," Kaiser Health News
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8353> , 12/3/09)

 
"However, 52% Of Voters Fear That They Could Be Forced To Change Insurance
If The Health Care Legislation Passes." ("Health Care Reform," Rasmussen
Reports <http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8362> , 1/22/10)
 

*	Mayo Clinic Says Government-Run Health Care Will Force Doctors To
Drop Patients. "[L]awmakers are on track to approve across-the-board federal
payment reductions of $155 billion over 10 years for hospitals ... Mayo and
similar health systems object to the sweeping cuts. 'Across-the-board cuts
will be harmful to everyone and we think it is particularly bad to penalize
the high-value organizations,' said Jeff Korsmo, executive director of the
Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center. 'We will have to violate our values in
order to stay in business and reduce our access to government patients.'"
(Phil Galewitz, "'Model' Health Systems Press Case For Medicare Fix In
Reform," Kaiser Health News, 7/20/09)
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8354> 

 

*	Obama's Promise That You Can Keep Your Doctor And Your Plan Is "Not
Literally True Or Enforceable." "Mr. Obama has said repeatedly, as he told
the American Medical Association in June: 'If you like your doctor, you will
be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan,
you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it
away, no matter what.' These assurances reflect an aspiration, but may not
be literally true or enforceable." (Robert Pear & David Herszenhorn, "A
Primer On The Details Of Health Care Reform," The New York Times, 8/10/09)
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8365> 

 
AND AMERICAN SENIORS KNOW THEIR MEDICARE BENEFITS WILL BE CUT
 
"[J]ust 35% Of Seniors Favor The Plan While 62% Oppose It." ("Health Care
Reform," Rasmussen Reports
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8362> , 1/22/10)
 

*	Dems Admit Cuts Could Force Doctors To Decline Seniors On Medicare.
"Rep. Eric Massa [D-NY] said tightening provider payments could lead to
access problems for patients. 'We will force doctors to decline Medicare
patients,' he said after a raucous town-hall meeting in Upstate New York.
'If we believe these savings are there, let's test the concept. But we can't
hinge the entire funding of this bill on these not-yet-seen savings.'" (Ceci
Connolly, "Seniors Remain Wary Of Health-Care Reform," The Washington Post,
8/9/09) <http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8359> 

 

*	CBO Director Says Obama's Cuts To Medicare Advantage Means Many
Seniors Seeing Benefits Cut In Half. SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID): "So
approximately half of the additional benefit would be lost to those current
Medicare Advantage policy holders." ELMENDORF: "Those who would be enrolled
otherwise under current law, yes..." (Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) And CBO
Director Douglas W. Elmendorf, Senate Finance Committee Markup Hearing
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8352> , 9/22/09)

 

*	20 States Would See More Than 50,000 Seniors Being Dropped From
Medicare Advantage. "If Congress sets MA rates at the level of county FFS
spending, 11 states are predicted to lose more than 100,000 MA enrollees
each, including: California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts,
Wisconsin and Illinois. An additional 13 states would lose between 50,000
and 100,000 MA enrollees, including: Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey,
Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Florida, New York, Louisiana, Kentucky,
Virginia, Indiana and Tennessee." (Adam Atherly, Ph.D. and Kenneth E.
Thorpe, Ph.D., Emory School Of Public Health, "The Impact Of Reductions In
Medicare Advantage Funding On Beneficiaries,"
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8364>  4/07)

 
AND AMERICANS KNOW THAT IT'LL BREAK THE BUDGET
 
"Adding To Concerns About Paying For The Plan Is The Fact That 78% Of Voters
Expect It To Cost More Than Projected." ("Health Care Reform," Rasmussen
Reports <http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8362> , 1/22/10)
 

*	David Broder, Dean Of The Washington Press Corps, Said Reid And
Pelosi's Bills "Are Budget-Busters." "While the CBO said that both the
House-passed bill and the one Reid has drafted meet Obama's test by being
budget-neutral, every expert I have talked to says that the public has it
right. These bills, as they stand, are budget-busters." (David S. Broder,
Op-Ed, "A Budget-Buster In The Making," The Washington Post
<http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8363> , 11/22/09)

 

*	Washington Post Editorial Board Says Reform Bills Pretend To Be
Budget Neutral Because Of "A Fiscal Sleight Of Hand." "First off, $247
billion -- the 10-year cost of the fix -- is one whopper of a 'discrepancy.'
... President Obama has vowed that health reform will not add a single dime
to the deficit -- but he is seemingly unfazed about adding more than a
quarter-trillion dollars to the deficit by changing the Medicare
reimbursement formula without finding a way to pay for it. ... This latest
maneuver only heightens the fiscal irresponsibility of what already was a
fiscal sleight of hand." (Editorial, "2.47 Trillion Dimes," The Washington
Post <http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8356> , 10/19/09)

 

*	The "Doc Fix" Provision That Would Add $250 Billion To The Deficit
Is Not Included In The Democrats' List Price For Their Health Care
Experiment. (Page 17, Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Senator Harry Reid,
11/18/09) <http://link.sc.states.gop.com?164-1411-1661-25548-8357>