Healthcare Promise made at Hofstra University Four Years Ago Broken

HEALTH CARE COSTS

PROMISE: Obama Said His Health Care Plan Would Lower Premiums By $2,500 A Year

Obama Said ObamaCare Would "Cut The Average Family's Premium By About $2,500 A Year." OBAMA: "The only thing we're going to try to do is lower costs so that those cost savings are passed onto you. And we estimate we can cut the average family's premium by about $2,500 per year." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)

Obama: "All I want to do, if you've already got health care, is lower your costs. That includes you, Joe." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)

BROKEN: ObamaCare Is Actually Making Health Care "Less Affordable"

Under Obama, The Average Cost Of Family Health Care Premiums Has Increased By $3,065 From $12,680 To $15,745, A 24.2 Percent Increase. ("Employer Health Benefits, 2012 Annual Survey, Exhibit 6.4," The Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012)

• Under Obama, Families Pay An Average Of $255 More On Monthly Health Care Premiums. ("Employer Health Benefits; 2012 Annual Survey," The Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/11/12; "Employer Health Benefits; 2008 Annual Survey," The Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/24/08)
• Under Obama, Americans Pay An Average Of $76 More On Monthly Health Care Premiums. ("Employer Health Benefits; 2012 Annual Survey," The Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/11/12; "Employer Health Benefits; 2008 Annual Survey," The Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/24/08)

FactCheck.org: ObamaCare "Falls Short Of Making Health Care 'Affordable And Available To Every Single American,' As Promised." "Furthermore, the law falls short of making health care 'affordable and available to every single American,' as promised. The law provides subsidies to help some Americans buy insurance, expands Medicaid and doesn't allow insurance companies to exclude persons with preexisting conditions. But still, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected 23 million persons will remain uninsured - some because they can't afford coverage." (D'Angelo Gore, "Promises, Promises," FactCheck.org, 1/4/12)

• FactCheck.org: ObamaCare Is Actually Making Health Care "Less Affordable." "At the moment, the new law is making health care slightly less affordable. Independent health care experts say the law has caused some insurance premiums to rise. As we wrote in October, the new law has caused about a 1 percent to 3 percent increase in health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored family plans because of requirements for increased benefits. Last year's premium increases cast even more doubt on another promise the president has made - that the health care law would 'lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.'" (D'Angelo Gore, "Promises, Promises," FactCheck.org, 1/4/12)

PROMISE: Obama Promised That If You Liked Your Health Care Plan, You Could Keep It

Obama Said Under His Plan, "If You've Got An Employer-Based Health Care Plan, You Keep It." OBAMA: "Very briefly. You all just heard my plan. If you've got an employer-based health care plan, you keep it. Now, under Senator McCain's plan there is a strong risk that people would lose their employer-based health care. That's the choice you'll have is having your employer no longer provide you health care. And don't take my word for it. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which generally doesn't support a lot of Democrats, said that this plan could lead to the unraveling of the employer-based health care system." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)

BROKEN: The Congressional Budget Office Found That ObamaCare Could Cause As Many As 20 Million Americans To Lose Their Employer-Provided Health Care Plan

Americans Are Finding Out That Obama's "Keep Your Plan" Promise Is Just Not True. "President Barack Obama promised over and over during the health care debate that 'if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.' It turns out that, for a lot of people, that isn't true." (David Nather, "4 Hard Truths Of Health Care Reform," Politico, 3/16/12)

More Americans Will Lose Their Employer Health Care Coverage Than Before ObamaCare Was Enacted. "For one thing, CBO says 11 million Americans won't get employment-based health insurance they would have had before the law - so they will be forced out (technically by their employer, not by the president, but the context will be the changes brought about by the health law). Another 9 million would gain coverage - but everyone who loses it will see their lives disrupted, and it will be used as more evidence of broken Obama promises." (David Nather, "4 Hard Truths Of Health Care Reform," Politico, 3/16/12)

• Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster Said That It Was "Not True In All Cases" That People Would Be Able To Keep Their Coverage If They Wanted To. "Foster was asked by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., for a simple true or false response on two of the main assertions made by supporters of the law: that it will bring down unsustainable medical costs and will let people keep their current health insurance if they like it. On the costs issue, 'I would say false, more so than true,' Foster responded. As for people getting to keep their coverage, 'not true in all cases.'" ("Medicare Official Doubts Health Care Law Savings," The Associated Press,1/26/11)
• Congressional Budget Office Found That ObamaCare Could Cause As Many As 20 Million Americans To Lose Their Employer-Provided Health Care Plan. "As many as 20 million Americans could lose their employer-provided healthcare because of President Obama's healthcare reform law, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new report Thursday." (Julian Pecquet, "CBO: Millions Of Americans Could Lose Their Employer Coverage," The Hill's Health Watch, 3/15/12)

PROMISE: Obama Said Small Business Owners Would Not Be Penalized If They Were Unable To Provide Health Insurance

Obama Said Small Business Owners Unable To Provide Health Insurance To Employees Would Not Be Penalized Under His Plan. OBAMA: "I just described what my plan is. And I'm happy to talk to you, Joe, too, if you're out there. Here's your fine -- zero. You won't pay a fine, because..." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)

BROKEN: Any Small Business With More Than 50 Employees That Is Unable To Provide Health Insurance Must Pay A $2,000 Fine Per Employee

ObamaCare's "Complex Rules" And Regulations Requiring Small Businesses To Provide "Essential" Health Benefits Insurance Plans Increases Costs And Prevents Small Businesses From Expanding. "The new law requires most businesses to provide a generous 'essential' package of benefits, which is beyond what many small businesses provide today. It subjects businesses to highly complex rules that increase the cost risk, and 'hassle factor' of adding payrolls. Companies that do offer insurance can be fined if low-income employees take a government-subsidized plan. All firms with more than 50 workers must provide benefits, which creates an incentive for smaller firms to stay 'under the limit' by expanding overseas, outsourcing, or dividing into two companies."(UBS, "Great Suppression II," UBS Investment Research, 9/19/11)

Under ObamaCare, Businesses Employing More Than 50 Employees Will Be Subjected To A $2,000 Fine. "Assesses a fee of $2,000 per full-time employee, excluding the first 30 employees, on employers with more than 50 employees that do not offer coverage and have at least one full-time employee who receives a premium tax credit. Employers with more than 50 employees that offer coverage but have at least one full-time employee receiving a premium tax credit, will pay the lesser of $3,000 for each employee receiving a premium credit or $2,000 for each full-time employee, excluding the first 30 employees." (Kaiser Family Foundation, "Implementation Timeline," KFF.org, Accessed 10/15/12)