FACT CHECK:

Dem Claims on ObamaCare Repeal Don’t Ring True

Posted by Kevin Smith on January 17, 2011
Americans want a step-by-step, common-sense approach to health care reform that
lowers costs, not the job-crushing, government takeover of health care that was rammed
through Congress last year. And this week, House Republicans will keep their pledge to
pass legislation to repeal the law and work on common-sense policies that actually lower
costs for families and small businesses, expand access to affordable care, and protect
American jobs. But that hasn’t stopped Democrats from making claims about the GOP
repeal effort that don’t pass the straight-face test. Here are just a few examples:
• Dem Claim: On January 6, 2011, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
released a statement implying that ObamaCare creates jobs by panning the GOP
repeal effort. The statement was entitled: “GOP Bill To Repeal Health Reform Is
A Job-Killer."
FACT: By piling more debt onto the backs of our kids and grandkids, and
imposing a costly maze of taxes, penalties, and mandates on job creators,
ObamaCare will lead to fewer jobs. The New York Times reported this weekend
that “[e]conomists tend to agree that the law could lead some employers to hire
fewer low-wage workers.” In an op-ed for USA Today, the president of the
National Center for Policy Analysis notes that as firms now consider dropping
health insurance for their employees, “The next step will be to drop their jobs.”
Bottom line: analysis by the Heritage Foundation concludes that "The best
way to prevent further erosion of the economy is to repeal the new law.”
• Dem Claim: GOP repeal bill would leave Americans with pre-existing conditions
vulnerable.
FACT: In the last Congress, Republicans offered a better, market-based solution
to guarantee access to affordable health care for those with pre-existing conditions
– all without job-crushing government mandates. The proposal fully funded and
reformed high-risk pools and reinsurance programs to guarantee that all
Americans, regardless of pre-existing conditions or past illnesses, have access to
affordable care – lowering costs for all Americans without piling more debt onto
our kids and grandkids. (H.R. 4038, Title I, Introduced 11/6/09; Summary
available here.) House Republicans will be looking at similar reforms this year.
• Dem Claim: GOP repeal bill would take away insurance coverage for children
through age 25 who stay on their parents’ policy.
FACT: The plan offered by Republicans included the same proposal, allowing
young adults through age 25 to remain on their parents’ policies. Republicans will
continue to support this reform. (H.R. 4038, Title II, Introduced 11/6/09;
Summary available here.)
• Dem Claim: GOP repeal bill will leave seniors vulnerable who are counting on
the “donut hole” to be closed.
FACT: The Democrats’ ‘fix’ was a backroom deal with PhRMA that will raise
prescription drug costs and cost taxpayers tens of billions. This backroom deal
may have helped enrich PhRMA’s bottom line, but the Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) has confirmed that the new health care law will increase premiums
 for 33 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D by as much as nine percent (p.
78) and cost taxpayers $42.6 billion (p. 38).
• Dem Claim: ObamaCare does not promote taxpayer funding of abortion, and
legislation is not needed to keep abortions from being funded by taxpayer dollars
under ObamaCare.
FACT: In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune editorial board, facing
questions about his commitment to the pro-abortion cause, former White House
chief of staff Rahm Emanuel emphasized that the Executive Order on abortion
signed by President Obama in March 2010 – ostensibly to eliminate the need for
the pro-life Stupak Amendment to be attached to ObamaCare – does not carry the
force of law, and as such, has the seal of approval of former House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and others who oppose a ban on taxpayer funding of
abortion (Chicago Tribune, 1/14/11). Emanuel also seemed to acknowledge that
the EO was a maneuver by the Obama Administration to circumvent a bipartisan
majority in the House – and the will of the American people – which supported
the pro-life Stupak amendment.
House Republicans offered the only health care plan in the last Congress that actually
LOWERED premiums – the American people’s number one priority for health care
reform. This year, led by the Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI),
Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Education & the
Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN), Republicans will be listening to the
American people and putting together common-sense reforms that lower health care
costs, expand access to affordable care, and protect American jobs. That’s the promise
Republicans made in the Pledge to America, and it’s a pledge they intend to keep.