John Boehner 8TH DISCTRICT OF OHIO

“Anyone who gets insurance through their job should be worried about what will happen next, because there is adistinct financial incentive for employers to terminate health care coverage under the Democrats’ health care law,” House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) said today, unveiling a new report titled “BROKEN PROMISE: Why ObamaCare Will Force Americans to Lose the Health Care Coverage They Have and Like.”  Contrary to President Obama’s oft-stated claim that “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,” data provided by 71 top employers and analyzed by the committee shows that each company would save, on average, $400 million in 2014 and nearly $6 billion between 2014 and 2023 if they drop coverage for their employees – forcing them into government-controlled exchanges.  Here are a few additional highlights from the report, courtesy of the committee:

• “In total, the 71 Fortune 100 companies that responded to this inquiry could save an estimated $28.6 billion in 2014 alone by eliminating health insurance coverage for their more than 5.9 million U.S. employees (impacting more than 10.2 million employees and dependents covered by those plans) and instead paying the $2,000 per full-time employee fine created in the Democrats’ health care law.  From 2014 through 2023, these employers could save an astounding $422.4 billion if they took this action.”

• “84 percent of responding employers expect their future health care costs will increase at rates that are greater than those they’ve experienced over the past five years.  During this period, employers responded that their health insurance costs have increased 5.9 percent, on average, while they expect future health costs will grow 7.6 percent, on average.”  

In a report on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, Neil Trautwein, Vice President and Employee Benefits Policy Counsel for the National Retail Federation, said “In a pure dollars and cents standpoint, it could not be more clear: You save a lot of money - hundreds of millions of dollars for some of these companies - by no longer providing coverage.” James Capretta, a fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, warned that if a business “stops offering coverage, their competitors in the local community are likely to follow suit.  There could be a snowball effect.”  “The higher costs of subsidies” resulting from the influx of Americans forced into government-controlled exchanges “would fall on taxpayers,” according to Fox News’ Jim Engle.  

Today’s report echoes the findings of a House Energy & Commerce report released last week that found that ObamaCare will raise costs and increase uncertainty for job creators, and jeopardize coverage for American workers.  In addition to these reports, House Republicans have held several hearings to highlight the disastrous consequences ObamaCare is having for American taxpayers and small businesses (see: here, here and here), as they continue making the case for full repeal of the law.   

Keeping the Pledge to America, the Republican-led House has already voted nearly 30 times to repeal, defund and dismantle parts of ObamaCare, and will continue to do so in the weeks and months ahead.  Learn more and follow our progress by liking the Pledge to America on Facebook: Facebook.com/PledgetoAmerica. 

Here is the full report: 

READ MORE:

• New Energy & Commerce Committee Report: POTUS’ Own Jobs Council Facing “Higher Costs, More Confusion & Less Coverage” Under ObamaCare
• House Committee Investigates ObamaCare’s Backroom Deals & Secret Negotiations
• Keeping the Pledge: A Look at House Efforts to Repeal & Defund ObamaCare
• ObamaCare Worsens “A Dire Federal Fiscal Outlook,” Adds $340 Billion to Deficit 
• ObamaCare Hits Colleges Students “With a Triple Whammy”
• Despite PR Blitz, Americans Overwhelmingly Oppose “What’s In” ObamaCare & its Impact on Jobs, Costs