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Real Reform Begins with Repeal of Obamacare

By Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN-06)

Today, the House of Representatives will continue its fight to stop President Obama's destructive health care law by voting on my legislation to repeal ObamaCare.

Three developments in recent weeks shed light on how ObamaCare is beginning to collapse under its own weight, even before it is fully implemented.

First, the outrageous news that the IRS targeted pro-growth, conservative and Tea Party groups due to their political beliefs is only one piece of the puzzle.

Once Americans grasp the gravity of the IRS as the key agency tasked with enforcing ObamaCare, their concerns will only grow.

No matter what, Americans will not want a politicized agency to have access to their most personal, intimate health care information or be in charge of important health care decisions.

Second, funding for ObamaCare's implementation has dried up. So, in another politicized move, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has been soliciting funds from private health care companies to implement the law.
Third, more and more Democrats are coming out of the woodwork to express concern over ObamaCare's implementation, including the bill's co-author, Sen. Max Baucus, who called it a "train wreck."

The reality is the American people are still only beginning to comprehend the size and scope of this health care overhaul.
And the more they learn about ObamaCare, the more unpopular it becomes.

According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll, only 35% of Americans view ObamaCare favorably, while 53% support efforts to continue to block and repeal it.

When the 2,800-page health care law was rammed through Congress, President Obama promised Americans a reduced deficit, lower premiums and the chance to keep their current plan.

Instead, we see job loss, less innovation, higher premiums and bigger government. Across the nation, Americans feel the impact of ObamaCare's burdensome regulations.

In 2010, then-Speaker Pelosi promised that we would see 4 million jobs over the lifetime of the bill, with 400,000 of those jobs appearing almost immediately.

However, a study by the American Action Forum found that just implementing the bill's regulations alone killed 30,000 jobs.

And a Federal Reserve report listed ObamaCare as a leading deterrent when it comes to businesses hiring new workers.
In addition to stifling economic growth in a nation with millions unemployed, we are seeing a new trend of companies cutting hours to avoid paying extra fees in providing their workers with health insurance.

Franchisees of Taco Bell, Dunkin' Donuts and Wendy's are only some of the businesses that are in the process of reducing their employees' hours to below 30 per week in order to avoid the new requirements and costs of covering their health care.
Despite the bill's misleading title, internal cost estimates from 17 of the nation's largest insurance companies indicate that ObamaCare will be anything but "affordable."

On average, premiums will grow 100% when the law is fully implemented, and some will soar more than 400%.

And despite being hailed as a deficit reducer, the GAO reports that Obamacare will increase our federal deficit by $6.2 trillion in the long-term.

One of President Obama's main selling points for ObamaCare was that it would help the most vulnerable populations with pre-existing conditions.

Instead, the program to help them is refusing new applicants and is already out of money before less than 1 percent of those with pre-existing conditions received coverage.

After Congress passed the president's health care law, one of my top priorities has been its full repeal. I plan to continue this fight until this becomes a reality.
Passing my bill to repeal ObamaCare is just the first step towards free market solutions for real health care reform.
Real health care reform is about bringing down the cost of health care through free market competition.

Rather than empowering big government in which doctors and patients have little to no say about the quality of care they receive, real health care reform is about giving families more choices — not fewer.

We must work together for commonsense health care solutions, and that begins today by repealing the ObamaCare train wreck.

This op-ed originally appeared in Investor's Business Daily on May 16, 2013. Click here to view.