It’s been seven months since President Obama’s health care bill was signed into law, and its disastrous consequences continue to mount. In recent weeks, we’ve seen reports of companies being forced to raise premiums and curb retirement benefits as a direct result of the president’s bill. Boeing has warned 90,000 of its employees that they will have to pay significantly more for their health plans next year, and Reuters has reported that employers will pay “nearly 9 percent more for health care costs” in 2011, while employees can expect to pay 12 percent more.
Maybe the most startling revelation is that the Department of Health and Human Services has been quietly issuing waivers to companies so they won’t have to comply with some of the bill’s mandates. As the Chicago Sun-Times reported, “The waivers were granted because the companies contended that to meet the requirement they would have had to raise premiums 200 percent on average. Some had said they would drop the benefit altogether.” You know you’ve got a bad law on your hands when the only way to achieve its alleged goal of expanded health care coverage is to waive it.
The American people didn’t want ObamaCare, but the president and his liberal allies in Congress refused to listen. Now, as the law is being implemented, coverage is shrinking and premiums are rising. Republicans have offered better solutions that expand coverage while preserving consumer freedom and the doctor-patient relationship. We need to repeal and replace this monstrosity and enact these common-sense reforms.
