Morning Bell: The Administration’s Obamacare Denial
by Amy Payne, Heritage Foundation, July 17, 2013
Obamacare was supposed to go so well, we were told.
The mandates. The long-term care insurance. The Medicaid expansion. All going swimmingly, right?
Only in the minds of Harry Reid and the bureaucrats at Health and Human Services (HHS).
Despite a host of delays, legal challenges, and complete implementation failures, the Senate Majority Leader says “Obamacare has been wonderful for America.” The Administration says it’s simply implementing the law “in a careful, thoughtful manner.”
And right after the Administration announced it was delaying Obamacare’s employer mandate—one of its main provisions—HHS released a video saying Obamacare is “ON SCHEDULE.”
The House is voting today on whether to put the employer mandate delay into law and whether to delay the individual mandate as well, which would require every American to purchase government-approved health insurance. It, like the employer mandate, was supposed to take effect on January 1, 2014.
Yes, it would seem Obamacare is just falling apart. And the Administration is in denial.
>>> Obamacare’s Dirty Dozen Implementation Failures
HHS is particularly excited that the health insurance exchange is “on schedule” to open October 1—in about 11 weeks. But with half the states deferring to the federal government to set up the exchange for them, and Obamacare’s track record thus far, what will happen?
As Heritage’s Chris Jacobs noted, “a Government Accountability Office report released last month noted that ‘critical’ activities to create a federal exchange have not been completed, and the missed deadlines ‘suggest a potential for challenges going forward.’”
Even one of the law’s authors, Democratic Senator Max Baucus (MT), has said Obamacare has turned into a “train wreck.” So why should Congress keep throwing our hard-earned dollars after it?
Congress can’t unilaterally repeal Obamacare, but the Constitution grants lawmakers the ultimate power of the purse. If Congress chooses not to fund Obamacare activities for the upcoming fiscal year, the Obama Administration cannot act to implement the law. Defunding Obamacare would also prevent the application of the law’s new regulations and 18 tax increases.
If we really want to be “careful” and “thoughtful” about what’s best for Americans, Congress should expose the Administration’s unworkable plans.
LEARN MORE: Fact Sheet: Defund Obamacare
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