When President Obama campaigned for his health care law he promised repeatedly: “If you like your current insurance, you will keep your current insurance.” Every day there is more evidence to the contrary — most recently news that the so-called “Cadillac tax” provision of Obamacare is already causing some employers to drop the high-end health care plans they currently offer their employees.
In a blog post this week, I talk about some of the negative effects of Obamacare that we are already seeing — including those due to the “Cadillac tax.” In a video my office released today, you will hear one of the Obamacare promises President Obama made that has already been broken.
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Broken Promises
We’ve seen evidence in at least three news reports this week that the Obamacare promises President Obama made have already been broken. Those reports can be found in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Associated Press.
Click here or on the image above to watch “The Promise” video.
Effects of the Cadillac Tax
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that some employers are being forced to offer “bare-bones” health care plans in order to avoid Obamacare penalties. This week, a New York Times report focuses on another provision of Obamacare — the so-called “Cadillac” tax.
The “Cadillac tax” punishes companies that offer high-end health care plans to their employees by hitting them with a 40 percent excise tax if the plan exceeds a government mandated level.
Even though the tax does not go into effect until 2018, many employers (17 percent according to a recent survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans) are already making changes to their health care plans in anticipation of the coming penalty. As a result of the “Cadillac tax,” many employees are already being warned they should expect to see plans with higher premiums and less benefits.
President Obama made a lot of promises when he campaigned for his overhaul of our health care system. One of the most significantpledges was that if you liked your current insurance you could keep it. Many of those who were happy with the plans are now learning that this promise has already been broken. Many more will discover the hard truth over the coming months and years as they see the cost of their plans rise and their benefits decrease.
Obamacare is already hurting employers, employees, and our economy as a whole and promises to cause even more pain and devastation in the future. That is why I will continue to fight against its implementation and will not rest until this terrible law is fully repealed.
Snapshot from the District
Groundbreaking for the North America Bayer Bee Care Center, May 29, 2013. Pictured above (l to r): Rep. Ellmers, Durham County Commissioner (Chairman) Fred Foster, Jr., Durham County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow, Betty Jo Shepheard representing Senator Richard Burr, NC Agricultural Services Assistant Commissioner Dr. Richard Reich. (Not pictured: Bayer CropScience CEO James Blome.)