Washington, May 12 -

Washington Democrats’ campaign to “sell” their government takeover of health care got off to a rocky start yesterday when Americans received the news that the new law will cost at least $115 billion more than advertised.  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis means that the cost of the job-killing health care law will exceed $1 trillion – well above “the President’s price tag of around $900 billion.”  This report comes just weeks after the Obama Administration itself released an analysis confirming that the new law actually increases Americans’ health care costs.  These revelations widen the serious credibility gap President Obama is facing: if there’s one thing the American people wanted out of health care reform, it’s lower costs, which Washington Democrats promised, but did not deliver.  And yesterday’s CBO estimates aren’t the end of it: the new law’s costs “could go higher” at a time when our national debt is racing towards $13 trillion and Democrats have failed to propose a budget blueprint for the coming fiscal year.

After Democrats met last night to plot their health care implementation campaign, House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) said, “Lord knows, we have not done the job we need to do communicating it to the people.”  Quite true, but the American people don’t want soothing soundbites, they want the truth.  With reports of higher premiums, higher taxes, and doctor shortages coming in from around the country, this new government takeover of health care is becoming just another Washington program that overspends and underdelivers:

“CBO ups health care cost projections.  Congressional Budget Office estimates released Tuesday predict the health care overhaul will likely cost about $115 billion more in discretionary spending over ten years than the original cost projections.  … Republicans pounced on the news, which they called another sign that the Obama administration makes promises it cannot deliver.  ‘The American people wanted one thing above all from health care reform: lower costs, which Washington Democrats promised, but they did not deliver,’ said House Minority Leader John A Boehner (R-Ohio). ‘It was clearly irresponsible for Washington Democrats to force this legislation through Congress without being truthful about its full impact on the nation’s finances. Republicans are fighting to repeal this job-killing health care law and replace it with reforms focused first on lowering costs and protecting American jobs.”  (Politico, 5/11/10)

“Budget office estimates health-care law could cost more than $1 trillion.  President Obama's new health-care law could potentially add at least $115 billion more to government health care spending over the next 10 years, if Congress approves all the additional spending called for in the legislation, congressional budget referees said Tuesday.  That would push the 10-year cost of the overhaul above $1 trillion -- an unofficial limit the Obama administration set early on. … Costs could go higher, because the legislation authorizes several programs without setting specific funding levels.”  (Associated Press, 5/12/10)

This analysis comes just weeks after the Obama Administration’s own experts said that the new law will increase health care costs rather than bring them down, which is what President Obama promised:

Report: Health overhaul will increase nation's tab.  President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law will increase the nation's health care tab instead of bringing costs down, government economic forecasters concluded Thursday in a sobering assessment of the sweeping legislation. … But the analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs.” (Associated Press, 4/23/10)

Washington Democrats have also been forced to reverse course and admit that the new law squeezes employers with job-killing tax increases:

“When major companies declared that a provision of the new health care law would hurt earnings, Democrats were skeptical.  But after investigating, House Democrats have concluded that the companies were right to tell investors and the government about the expected adverse effects of the law on their financial results.” (The New York Times, 4/26/10)

Republicans are fighting to repeal this job-killing health care law and replace it with reforms focused first on lowering costs and protecting American jobs.  Democrats still aren’t listening to the American people, who want both parties to work together to stop the out-of-control spending spree and create jobs.