La. Dems Are Wrong About Obamacare

Louisiana liberals still defend Obamacare. While 93% of Americans want Obamacare repealed or fixed, but Louisiana liberals remain proudly standing with President Obama and praising his signature law. More than 90,000 Louisianians are facing insurance cancellations, and thousands are watching their premiums skyrocket, but the Louisiana Democratic Party can’t stop professing its devotion to Obamacare.

Let’s get something straight: health care costs are rising, and they will keep rising. We have yet to factor in the double-digit premium increases that are giving people sticker shock. In fact, a group of Obama Administration bureaucrats projected that costs will go up sharply for years to come as Obamacare’s mandates are fully enforced. Instead of containing costs, Obamacare will make them worse.

There’s a sad irony in the latest claim from Louisiana Democrats about health care costs. They say that health care costs are growing slowly, and they’d love for you to believe Obamacare caused that. The truth is the slowdown started with the recession in 2007, and has continued through President Obama’s miserable recovery. When people don’t have jobs, they tend to put off health care decisions.

But the truth is harsh for the Louisiana Democratic Party. Obamacare did cut $716 billion from Medicare, and a direct consequence is the Obamacare penalty on hospitals for readmitting sick Medicare patients if it’s been less than 30 days since the patient was discharged. Hospitals that operate on a thin margin – as most are – now face a new dilemma; what if a Medicare patient who was discharged after successful treatment for a heart problem becomes sick with pneumonia just two weeks later? Readmitting that patient too soon could mean a costly penalty from the federal government; especially devastating in rural areas with only one hospital. That’s the Obamacare way of cutting costs.

Here are the facts:

· Obamacare forces employers to cut jobs and working hours to the point that even labor unions warned that it will “destroy the foundation of the 40-hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

· Obamacare burdens many of those same working class families with new Obamacare health insurance that will be double their current cost.

· Obamacare cancels polices for millions who liked their health insurance.

· Obamacare covers abortion services in the policies of millions of Americans who don’t want to pay for such services.

· Obamacare leaves 30 million Americans uninsured even after its fully implemented.

· Obamacare raises serious concerns about the data security of Americans who use healthcare.gov.

· Obamacare expands government control over about one-sixth of the U.S. economy.

· Obamacare enlarges the role of the IRS in Obamacare enforcement.

· Obamacare creates an insurance coverage death spiral by encouraging enrollment from an older, sicker population, while driving away those who are young and healthy with extreme costs.

And yet, Louisiana liberals stand by Obamacare. Well, not all. Senator Mary Landrieu is doing her political best to run from her statement on the Senate floor in 2009 when she said, ‘…those individuals who like the coverage they already have, will be able to keep their current plan. This is a very accurate description of this bill, the Patient Protection and Affordability Act. It’s very accurate.’ Now Mary can’t delay the effects of Obamacare fast enough with her fig leaf legislation. Sounds like Mary and the Louisiana Democratic Party aren’t on the same page about Obamacare. Why delay Obamacare if her party says Obamacare’s results refute my claims? Because it isn’t true.

I didn’t believe her then, and no one should believe Louisiana liberals now when they remain mouthpieces for President Obama and his disastrous Obamacare law.

Dr. John Fleming is representative for the 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.