Lincoln Breaks Promises, Votes To Raise Americans’ Health Care Costs By $4,000

Tuesday, 13 October 2009 14:42

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) today voted to pass the Senate Finance Committee health care legislation, which will increase health care costs for American families by $4,000 over the next 10 years.

Lincoln’s vote contradicted her earlier statement this summer that “I’m not going to support anything that’s going to increase taxes on working families, and we don’t have to.” According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the legislation that Lincoln helped pass today could create a $201 billion excise tax, implement a $4 billion tax on people without health insurance, and impose a new $23 billion tax on employers.

Lincoln also broke her promise that she would not support any health reform that the CBO “cannot certify as reducing the deficit and bringing down the cost of health care.” During a hearing before the Senate on September 22, 2009, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf testified that the increased taxes in the legislation would be passed on in the form of higher insurance premiums. According to Elmendorf, “Our judgment is that that piece of the legislation would raise insurance premiums by roughly the amount of the money collected.”

“It very troubling that Senator Lincoln went back on her word and decided to vote in favor of a bill that will ultimately shift costs to voters in Arkansas who are still struggling to make ends meet,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson Marchand.  “Instead of putting her constituents first, Lincoln decided to vote in favor of legislation that will increase health care costs for American families by $4,000 over the next 10 years.”

Democrat Senate leaders continue to promise to include a government-run health care option during the upcoming conference process, which could mean over 88 million Americans losing their current coverage.

“Despite her assertions to the contrary, Blanche Lincoln has effectively opened the door with this vote for a government-run program that will come between her constituents and their doctors and potentially cause over 88 million Americans to lose their coverage,” Wilkerson Marchand continued. “If Senator Lincoln is serious about implementing real health care reform, she must vow to vote against any final legislation that includes a so-called ‘public option’ when it reaches the Senate floor.”

Background Information

“‘I’m Not Going To Support Anything That’s Going To Increase Taxes On Working Families, And We Don’t Have To,’ [Lincoln] Said, Contending That Enough Savings Can Be Found Elsewhere To Cover The Cost.” (Jane Fullerton, “Federally Run Option Heats Redo On Health,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 6/12/09)

Lincoln Said She Feared The Cost Of The Bill Would “Rise Further As A Result Of Amendments That Might Be Added By Her Democratic Colleagues On The Senate Floor,” And That The “Budget Office Analysis Would Be Crucial” In Her Decision On How She Would Vote In Committee. “Mrs. Lincoln said her constituents were ‘enormously alarmed about the amount of debt that we have.’ And she said she worried that the cost of the bill could rise further as a result of amendments that might be added by her Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor. As for how she would vote in the committee, Mrs. Lincoln said the budget office analysis would be crucial. ‘I am going to wait and see what the scores are,’ she said.” (Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, “4 Senators’ Concerns Reflect Health Care Challenge,” The New York Times, 10/7/09

Lincoln Said She Would Not Support Any Health Reform That The CBO “Cannot Certify As Reducing The Deficit And Bringing Down The Cost Of Health Care,” And Then Claimed That The “Mark As Proposed Does Meet These Very Important Goals.” “I have said I cannot support any health reform proposal that the Congressional Budget Office cannot certify as reducing the deficit and bringing down the cost of health care over the long term. Under the Chairman's leadership, the mark as proposed does meet these very important goals. It actually bends the cost curve downward in the years ahead, resulting in approximately $1.3 trillion in health care savings for our nation in the next decade, setting us on a sustainable path for the future.” (Blanche Lincoln For Senate Website, www.blancheforsenate.com, Accessed 10/7/09)

· The CBO Determined The Legislation “Would Raise Insurance Premiums By Roughly The Amount Of The Money Collected.” CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf: “As you read from the letter, Senator, our judgment is that that piece of the legislation would raise insurance premiums by roughly the amount of the money collected.” (Finance Committee, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 9/22/09)

Lincoln Said “The Fiscal Responsibility Of This Bill Is Very Critical.” “Mrs. Lincoln, in an interview Sunday, said that Arkansans were most concerned about the economy and that her support for the health care bill both in this week's final committee vote and on the Senate floor would hinge on it not increasing the federal deficit and helping to control health care costs over the long-term. ‘The fiscal responsibility of this bill is very critical,’ she said.” (David M. Herszenhorn, “A Senate Democrat With A Central Role,” The New York Times, 10/5/09)

SENATE FINANCE DEMS' BILL WILL RAISE

AMERICAN FAMILIES' HEALTH CARE COSTS BY $4,000

According To The CBO, The Senate Finance Dems’ Bill Could Create A $201 Billion Excise Tax, Charge Individuals $4 Billion In Fees, And Charge Employers $23 Billion In Fees. “[C]osts would be partly offset by receipts or savings, totaling $311 billion over the 10-year budget window, from four sources: net revenues from the excise tax on high-premium insurance plans, totaling $201 billion; penalty payments by uninsured individuals, which would amount to $4 billion; penalty payments by employers whose workers received subsidies via the exchanges, which would total $23 billion; and other budgetary effects, mostly on tax revenues, associated with the expansion of federally subsidized insurance, which would reduce deficits by $83 billion.” (Congressional Budget Office, "Letter to Chairman Max Baucus," 10/7/09)

A PriceWaterhouseCoopers Analysis Found That The Current Proposal Would Increase Healthcare Premiums By $4,000 Or 18% Over The Next 10 Years. “America's Health Insurance Plans engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to examine the impact of four components of the health reform bill being proposed by the Senate Finance Committee as introduced. . . . [B]y 2019 the cost of single coverage is expected to increase by $1,500 more than it would under the current system and the cost of family coverage is expected to increase by $4,000 more than it would under the current system. This amounts to an additional 18 percent increase in premiums by 2019.” (PricewaterhouseCoopers, "Potential Impact Of Health Reform On The Cost Of Private Health Insurance Coverage," 10/11/09)

The Senate Finance Dems’ Bill Is Paid For By Cutting Payment Rates In Public Programs, Shifting Costs To American Consumers. "[T]he health reform bill being proposed by the Senate Finance Committee as introduced ... include[s]: Cuts in payment rates in public programs that could increase cost shifting to private sector businesses and consumers. These changes are expected to more than offset the potential reduction in cost shifting resulting from providing coverage to the uninsured." (PricewaterhouseCoopers, "Potential Impact Of Health Reform On The Cost Of Private Health Insurance Coverage," 10/11/09)

The Senate Finance Dems’ Bill Will Hide Other Costs That Will Eventually Lead To Billions In Deficits Shouldered By American Taxpayers. "The Senate Finance Committee's health-reform bill is fully paid for, according to the Congressional Budget Office; in fact, the CBO says, it would save $81 billion in the first 10 years. The House version of health reform, by contrast, would add $239 billion to the deficit over that period. So the Senate bill is more fiscally responsible, right? Not exactly. The cost difference stems from the fact that the House measure is honest enough to include the full 10-year cost of the so-called 'doc fix' -- $245 billion to reverse scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to physicians -- although not fiscally responsible enough to pay for it. The Senate just patches the problem for one year and pretends that doctors take a 25 percent cut in reimbursements the following year and then stay at that low level forever. No one believes that will happen, so the money is going to have to be scrounged up later or else add more to the deficit." (Editorial, "A Shell Game For Disguising Health Reform Costs," The Washington Post, 10/10/09)

· Wall Street Journal Editorial: “[T]here Are The Many Budget Gimmicks.” (Editorial, “The Greatest Show On Earth,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/9/09)

· “The Finance Committee’s Stellar Performance In Deficit Reduction Also Relies In Part On Perpetuating A Long-Standing Congressional Accounting Gimmick: It boosts Medicare reimbursements to doctors for one year and then pretends that sharp reductions will occur over the next decade. (Every year Congress votes to up the payments.)” (Editorial, “The Baucus Bill,” The New York Times, 10/10/09)

VOTING FOR THE BILL WILL MEAN
VOTING TO LET REID MAKE IT EVEN WORSE

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Is Planning Closed Door Meetings In His Office To Write The Final Version Of Health Care Experiment With The White House. "It's the invite that every senator with an opinion on health care wants to get: a reserved seat at the conference table where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will merge two competing reform bills. But most of them won't get in. Reid's guest list will be an exclusive one. Reid has decided to keep the group intimate, limiting entree to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.); Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who ushered the bill through the Senate health committee ... The merger, which will unfold across Reid's suite of offices, should take a week, sources said. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, White House Director of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle and perhaps budget director Peter Orszag will represent the president, sources said." (Carrie Budoff Brown, "Members Jockey For Seat At Reid's Table," Politico, 10/7/09)

Reid Plans On Merging The Senate Finance Dems' Health Care Taxes And Medicare Cuts With The “More Liberal Bill” From Senate HELP Democrats. "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada will attempt – with input from the White House -- to reconcile the Finance Committee bill with a more liberal bill passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Provisions of the Finance bill are expected to remain largely intact because it addresses revenues and taxes in a way the other bill does not." (Kim Geiger, "About Tuesday's Healthcare Vote, And What Comes Next," The Los Angeles Times, 10/11/09)

Reid Is Promising To Include A “Public Option,” Which Could Mean Over 88 Million Americans Shifting From Private To Public Health Insurance Plans. “U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today there will be a ‘public option’ in whatever health insurance reform bill comes out of Congress. ‘We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president's desk,’ Reid said in a conference call with constituents, referring to some kind of government plan.” (Benjamin Spillman, "Reid: Final Health Bill Will Have 'Public Option,'" The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/1/09)