Drs Coburn & Barrasso release report on President Obama's health care law

U.S. Senators and doctors Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John Barrasso (R-WY) today released a report examining the impact and providing new conclusions about the consequences of the President’s health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The report titled, “Warning: Side Effects, A Check-Up on the Federal Health Law”, is their third oversight report since the enactment of the federal health law, two years ago.

Drs. Coburn and Barrasso write in the report:

“Over the past twenty four months, American families have learned more about the President’s health care law and do not like what they see.

“"Higher insurance premiums.  A coming state budget-busting Medicaid expansion.  Fewer choices.  Less freedom and more government interference.  Cuts to Medicare by unelected government bureaucrats.  Thousands of pages of regulations.  An unconstitutional mandate to buy health insurance. Penalties on employers threatening job creation.  Billions of dollars in tax hikes and, once fully implemented, $2.6 trillion in new health care spending,” the doctors report.

"It’s no wonder that a majority of Americans oppose the law today. In fact, poll after poll shows that a majority of Americans want the Supreme Court to overturn the law.”

“The President’s health care law should be repealed, but also replaced with solutions that promote competition in the private market – not stifle it. As medical professionals, we know firsthand that we cannot just go back to the system we knew before the health care law was enacted. We believe that we can, and we must, fix what is broken in our health care system.”

The report explores additional “side effects” resulting from the President’s health care law, including the following:  

•   New “Medical Loss Ratio” Insurance Rules Which Could Cause a Collapse in the Insurance Market, Leading to Increased Costs and Fewer Choices
•    Millions of Americans Could Lose Their Health Insurance Plan
•    Device Tax Stifles Innovation
•    The Economy Faces Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in Tax Hikes
•    Findings from New Taxpayer-Funded Research Institute Could Be Used to Deny Payment for Patients’ Care
•    New Co-Ops Expected to Waste Taxpayers’ Dollars

Supporting documents:

CMS Memo on Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (PCORTF)

Congressional Research Service Information on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)

Congressional Research Service Analysis of Public & Private Expenditures for Health Care in 2014