April 01,2014

Press Contact:

Aaron Fobes, Julia Lawless (202) 224-4515

Hatch: White House Not Telling the Full ObamaCare Story

Utah Senator Says, “He failed to mention that Congress’s own nonpartisan budget scorekeeper, the Congressional Budget Office, found the same number of people could actually lose access to their employer-based coverage. And, he failed to mention how many Americans signing up for ObamaCare used to have insurance they liked and doctors they trusted before they lost them due to this law.”

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement after President Obama delivered remarks on ObamaCare today:

“While President Obama touted the seven million enrollment total today he failed to tell Americans the full story.  He failed to mention that Congress’s own nonpartisan budget scorekeeper, the Congressional Budget Office, found the same number of people could actually lose access to their employer-based coverage. And, he failed to mention how many Americans signing up for ObamaCare used to have insurance they liked and doctors they trusted before they lost them due to this law. The president can continue to ignore the harsh side-effects of his health law, but the American people have to live with these realties.”

Since the Obama Administration has begun implementing the law, several nonpartisan experts have warned of the adverse economic impact the health care law will have on American individuals, families and job creators:

  • LOSS OF COVERAGE:  The Congressional Budget Office recently reported that 7 million employees will actually lose their employer-sponsored coverage under ObamaCare.
  • PREMIUM SPIKES: The Office of the Chief Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that two-thirds of Americans that work at small businesses, roughly 11 million workers, will see their premiums rise under ObamaCare.
  • JOB LOSS: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the President’s health care law would eliminate 2.3 million American jobs in 2021.

Additional Background:
A staunch opponent of the President’s health law, Hatch has introduced legislation that would repeal the two central pillars of the Affordable Care Act, the employer and individual mandates, and has bipartisan legislation repealing the medical device tax that partially funds the law.
Hatch has also championed legislation to repeal the tax on job creators and their employees. Hatch introduced the Trust But Verify Act, to delay the launch of the exchanges, where people will buy their Washington-mandated insurance, until the Government Accountability Office (GAO) can certify that the Data Hubs, the online market place to buy insurance is secure.  Most recently, Hatch joined Senators Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Tom Coburn, M.D. (Okla.) to introduce the CARE Act, an alternative proposal to ObamaCare that lowers health care costs and increases access to quality care.  

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