Two Years later, Americans still can't afford the Affordable Care Act

In 2010, as the health care bill was being pushed through Congress in one of the biggest legislative showdowns in recent history, Democrats turned deaf ears to the cries of South Mississippians and Americans everywhere.  We said: this bill is too costly, and is an unconstitutional power grab.  It will place government mandates in front of civil and religious liberties and individual health choices.  This bill will ruin the best health care system the world has ever seen. 

Advocates on the left reassured us that the critics were all wrong, we’d just have to sit down and read the bill later, in then-Speaker Pelosi’s words, “to see what was in it.”  Those creatively cramming the bill through Congress were confident that we’d all thank them later down the road. 

As I’ve been out and about in the district over the past year, South Mississippians have constantly approached me with concerns and questions over the new health care law, which doesn’t take full effect until 2014.  These are questions worth answering as, this month, we mark the two-year anniversary of the signing of the bill into law, and the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the law.  People deserve to know:  how will the new health care law really affect me? 

According to recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, the cost of the health care law has almost doubled over the past two years, from an initial estimate of $900 billion to $1.76 trillion.   Over the next decade, the same CBO report finds that spending would increase by at least $1 trillion, federal deficits would reach $7.6 trillion, and the debt would increase by $10.4 billion to total $25.1 trillion in 2022.  As astounding as these numbers might sound, the law also comes with real costs and consequences for individuals. 

Take seniors, for example.  The Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, is a central piece of the health care plan that affects senior citizens.  Under the new law, this unelected, unaccountable board of 15 bureaucrats will have the power to make decisions on the kinds of care that will be available- or unavailable - to seniors. Add to this the fact that the health care plan raids more than $575 billion from Medicare and essentially ends the program to ends as we know it, and seniors certainly have something to be upset about. The latest vote on the Protecting Access to Healthcare Act would repeal IPAB. 

The CBO also projects that the law’s new benefit mandates will force premiums to rise in the individual market by $2,100 per family. That’s in addition to the more than $2,000 per family that the Kaiser Foundation estimates premiums have already risen since 2009.   CBO also estimates that as many as 20 million Americans may lose the insurance coverage they currently have as employers face rising costs under the new system. 

The hardest hit employers will most certainly be small businesses. It is estimated that up to 80 percent of small businesses will be forced to give up their current insurance plans because of the new law and burdensome regulations.  And analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office predicts businesses will opt to pay an additional $15 billion in penalties instead of providing health insurance coverage to their employees.  Some small businesses are already choosing not to opt for tax credits due to the complex application system.  Whether you’re a senior, a working family, or a small business owner, the future looks bleak if nothing is done to stop some of the most damaging provisions in this law.

This month, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the government can legally require individuals to purchase a product, such as health insurance.  If they’re reading the same constitution that I am, they’ll conclude that the federal government has overstepped its bounds and declare the law unconstitutional.  A recent poll suggests that less than a third of likely voters actually think the court will be able to uphold the law. 

It has been two years since the passage of this law, and the message of House Republicans remains the same:  it is too costly, and is an unconstitutional power grab.  It has already begun placing government mandates in front of civil and religious liberties and individual health choices. 

As I’ve been telling folks over the past year:  doing nothing is not an option.  I’ve voted at least twenty-six times to both repeal and defund all or part of the law.  And that is why I will continue to do everything in my power to stop this mandate that threatens to ruin the best health care system the world has ever seen. 

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A Republican representing the Fourth District of Mississippi, Steven Palazzo serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee where he also serves as Chairman of the Space & Aeronautics Subcommittee. In addition, he serves as Assistant Republican Whip.