Five Broken Obama Promises in Obamacare Alone!

AskHeritage.org

Yesterday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) almost called Obamacare’s individual mandate a tax, stopping mid-word to call it a “penalty”.
White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew and other spokespersons echoed this
talking point. This is in spite of last week’s Supreme Court ruling
that deemed the mandate unconstitutional under
both the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause, but ruled
that it could stand as part of Congress’s authority to “lay and collect
taxes.”

Dubbing the individual mandate a tax saved the President’s health
care law, but it’s a concept that President Obama himself has strongly
denied. In a 2009 interview, President Obama argued that his individual
mandate was not a tax increase, stating, “I absolutely reject that notion.”

But after last week, President Obama must now admit it’s a tax or
admit the mandate is unconstitutional. It’s can only be one or the
other.

The mandate is in fact a tax, and it’s just one of many new taxes
that hit the middle class in Obamacare. Lo and behold, another broken
promise. President Obama claims that the mandate is holding people
responsible, keeping with that spirit, here’s a reminder of the other
promises the President and his health care law are responsible for
breaking:

Promise #1: “Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase.”

Reality: The individual mandate is far from alone on Heritage’s lengthy list
of Obamacare’s new taxes and penalties, many of which will heavily
impact the middle class. Altogether, Obamacare’s taxes and penalties
will accumulate an additional $500 billion in new revenue over a 10-year
period. Yesterday, a senior economist for The Wall Street Journal revealed
that 75 percent of Obamacare’s new taxes will be paid for by American
families making under $120,000 a year. Among the taxes that will hit the
middle class are the individual mandate, a 2.3 percent excise tax on
medical devices, a 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning, and an
increase of the floor on medical deductions from 7.5 percent of adjusted
gross income to 10 percent.

Promise #2: “If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period.”

Reality: Research continues to show that as many as 30 percent of employers
will dump their employees from their existing health care coverage. The
Administration itself has admitted that “as a practical matter, a
majority of group health plans will lose their grandfather status by
2013.”

Promise #3: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits—either now or in the future.”

Reality: As Heritage analysts explain,
“A close examination of what [the Congressional Budget Office] said, as
well as other evidence, makes it clear that the deficit reduction
associated with [Obamacare] is based on budget gimmicks, sleights of
hand, accounting tricks, and completely implausible assumptions. A more
honest accounting reveals the new law as a trillion-dollar budget
buster.”

Promise #4: “I will protect Medicare.”

Reality: A Heritage Factsheet
shows the various ways Obamacare ends Medicare as we know it, including
severe physician reimbursement cuts that threaten seniors’ access to
care and putting an unelected board of bureaucrats in charge of meeting
Medicare’s new spending cap.

Promise #5: “I
will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first
term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a
typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year.”

Reality: Obamacare does not accomplish universal coverage; it leaves 26 million Americans without insurance. Moreover, Heritage research outlines 12 ways that Obamacare will increase premiums
instead of reducing health care costs. Requirements that plans allow
young adults to stay on their parents’ coverage and offer preventive
services with no cost sharing are already leading to higher growth in
premiums.

When polled, 70 percent
of Americans held an unfavorable view of the individual mandate. It’s
doubtful that calling it a “tax” will dramatically change their opinion.
Now that Obamacare and its broken promises remain the law of the land,
it’s up to the American people to see to it that the law is ultimately
repealed by Congress. Then, they can move forward with real reform that
puts patients’ needs first.