Obamacare: Some Monsters Are Real
While The President Spins Fairy Tales, Real American Families Are Suffering
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “…we haven’t had a lot of conversation about the horrors of Obamacare because none of them come to pass.” (President Obama, Remarks, 6/8/15)
Horror Stories Haven’t ‘Come To Pass’?
‘Exchanges are wrestling with surging costs’ “Nearly half of the 17 insurance marketplaces set up by the states and the District under President Obama’s health law are struggling financially, presenting state officials with an unexpected and serious challenge five years after the passage of the landmark Affordable Care Act. Many of the online exchanges are wrestling with surging costs, especially for balky technology and expensive customer-call centers — and tepid enrollment numbers.” (“Nearly Half Of Obamacare Exchanges Are Struggling Over Their Future,” Washington Post, 5/1/15)
“Hold onto your wallets ... many insurers want to substantially hike rates on Obamacare policies for 2016.” (“Obamacare Sticker Shock: Big Rate Hikes Proposed For 2016,” CNN, 6/2/15)
“The administration sent incorrect tax information to 800,000 people who have enrolled in health insurance through ObamaCare, the administration announced Friday.” (“Feds Sent Bad Tax Info To 800,000 People On Obamacare,” The Hill, 2/20/15)
“Thousands of Americans will see their health plans cancelled before the November elections in a development that could boost critics of ObamaCare. …nearly 50,000 people will lose their current health coverage in the coming weeks.” (“More Plan Cancellations Coming Under Obamacare,” The Hill, 9/30/14)
POLITIFACT’s 2013 Lie of the Year: 'If you like your health care plan, you can keep it' (Politifact, 12/12/13)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “It hasn’t had an adverse effect on people who already had health insurance.” (President Obama, Remarks, 6/8/15)
No ‘Adverse Effect’?
2013 Flashback: “A CBS News analysis found that nearly 5 million Americans will lose their current health plan due to Obamacare.” (“CBS News: 61 Percent Of Americans Disapprove Of Obamacare,” CBS, 11/20/13)
KY Woman: “Our President lied to us. Not only are we going to lose our insurance but when go to a different policy-we have to pay more. We will never be able to retire-we are 58 & 56 years old-we will have to work the rest of our [lives] just to pay for our insurance.” (Sen. McConnell, Constituent Mail)
AZ Man: “For me and my lifestyle, doubling and more than doubling my [premium] costs is absurd. It’s insane.” Reporter: “President Obama’s Affordable Care Act isn’t so affordable… company is opting out and dropping Lee.” Lee: “It’s frustrating, it’s challenging, it makes you really question what’s really going on.” Reporter: “With no coverage, Lee says he had no other choice than to find out what was going on with Obamacare, but when he did he couldn’t believe what he was told.” Lee: “Your rate right now is $268 dollars. If you go to Obamacare it will go to $563 for the same type of care you have. … For me and my lifestyle, doubling and more than doubling my costs is absurd. It’s insane.” (KTVK-AZ, 11/13/13)
CA Man: ‘Existing $773 monthly premium for his family of four will more than double’ “Among those suffering sticker shock is Livermore real estate broker Larry Waelde. Like many others, he believed Obama when the president said people could keep their existing plans if they liked them. But Waelde said his existing $773 monthly premium for his family of four will more than double, based on rates he has reviewed on the state's online insurance exchange. ‘The damage has been done,’ said Waelde…” (“Furor Continues Over Cancellation Of Individual Health Care Policies,” San Jose Mercury News, 11/12/13)
ID Man: ‘We're going to go from $770 a month … to about $1,300’ “A small business owner in the Treasure Valley says the Affordable Care Act has made his family's health care coverage much more expensive. … ‘We're going to go from $770 a month which we were paying up until October, to about $1,300. I don't see how this helps,’ said Lund. Lund says he was shocked to hear that the most comparable plan would cost almost double. ‘From an emotional point of view, I don't think you can really prepare yourself for it,’ said Lund.” (“Sticker Shock: Health Insurance Costs Nearly Double For Boise Man,” KTVB, 12/4/13)
KY Woman: ‘As a senior, I am furious. As a democrat, I feel deceived’ “I am 69 and continue to work as I have done for 55 years. My deductible on my medical insurance from my healthcare employer has increased 7 fold. I have Medicare which will not pay a dime until this deductible is met. ... As a senior, I am furious. As a democrat, I feel deceived.” (Sen. McConnell, Constituent Mail)
NH Woman: New premium ‘an insane amount of money… How are you supposed to pay that?’ “Ginger Chapman and her husband, Doug, are sitting on the health care cliff. The cheapest insurance plan they can find through the new federal marketplace in New Hampshire will cost their family of four about $1,000 a month, 12 percent of their annual income of around $100,000 and more than they have ever paid before. … Because their plan is being canceled, she is looking for new coverage for her family, which includes Mr. Chapman, 55, a retired fireman who works on a friend’s farm, and her two sons. ‘That’s an insane amount of money,’ she said of their new premium. ‘How are you supposed to pay that?’” (“New Health Law Frustrates Many In Middle Class,” The New York Times, 12/20/13)
NY Woman: Insurance plan canceled under Obamacare, ‘I’m dead in the dirt, I can’t do anything. I can’t go to the doctor.’ REPORTER: “Many people in the Rochester area lost their healthcare insurance January 1. They’re among the millions across the country who saw their plans canceled under the Affordable Care Act. Nancy Miller is one of them. The self-employed hairdresser says she began doing research in September to make sure she’d be covered this year, but she then learned the health plan that she’d had for years was no longer available. She says other options were too expensive. Miller has some health issues that require medication, treatments and tests – treatments she’s delayed because of the lack of insurance.” MILLER: “I’m not going to lose my house because I don’t have health insurance and I need medical assistance, so I’m dead in the dirt, I can’t do anything. I can’t go to the doctor, I can’t have my tests run, I can’t go for an MRI.” (YNN-NY, 1/7/14)
NY Senior: “It hurts, it hurts inside and it’s a terrible feeling to think that you can’t get what you want” “Doctors are getting bumped off plans and their patients are getting worried, Brennan reported. ‘I just can’t believe it because this is the man you rely on,’ heart patient Leonard Goldberg, 82, said. ‘It hurts, it hurts inside and it’s a terrible feeling to think that you can’t get what you want,’ Tony Molesphini, 83, said. ‘Nobody wants to die, me above all people,’ 79-year-old Jim Heffernan said. The three men with heart trouble say their biggest problem is losing the doctor they’ve had for decades, and they fear for their future. … They claim that they that this is a way of cutting costs which they have to do because they are getting a reduction in their reimbursement for the Medicare Advantage plans due to the Affordable Care Act,” [Dr. David Hess] told Brennan.” (“Doctors Dropped By Insurers As Affordable Care Act Rollout Continues,” CBS New York, 11/1/13)
OH Woman: ‘I can’t afford it. I cannot afford it … It’s going to take at least a second job, praying that I would make enough’ Reporter: ‘She went shopping today for an insurance plan, and what she found has her devastated.’ Liz Binns: ‘Ahhh’ Reporter: ‘You can see it in her face and hear it in her voice. The disappointment Liz Binns felt when after two months of trying she was finally able to compare health insurance plans on the government website healthcare.gov’ Binns: ‘I can’t afford it. I cannot afford it.’ Reporter: ‘Liz needs insurance for her husband who has a pre-existing condition and who’s job doesn’t offer coverage, but the cheapest match for him that she found on the health insurance marketplace is well over $400 a month with a $5,000 deductible.’ Binns: ‘How can I pay this kind of money out? It’s going to take at least a second job, praying that I would make enough on a second job just to pay for this health insurance.’ (WEWS-OH, 12/3/13)
WI Dem Chief Of Staff: “‘In a shock to the system, the older staff in my office (folks over 59) have now found out their personal health insurance costs (even with the government contribution) have gone up 3-4 times what they were paying before,’ Minh Ta, chief of staff to Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), wrote to fellow Democratic chiefs of staff in an email message obtained by POLITICO. ‘Simply unacceptable.’” (“Older Hill Aides Shocked By Obamacare Prices,” Politico, 11/21/13)
###
SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
Next Previous
