Health Care Reform Passes – Recounting the Promises

The health care bill is now law of the land and the bitter fight for its passage is behind us. It is the biggest transformation of the U.S. health care system in my lifetime. I thought it might be helpful to recount the promises our President and Democratic members of Congress made to us about the benefits of this legislation.

1. All Americans will now receive affordable, or free, quality health care.
2. No one will ever be denied coverage.
3. No one will ever go into bankruptcy because of the costs of health care.
4. There will be increased access to health care for 95% of Americans.
5. There will be no decline in the quality of health care.
6. Health care costs will go down.
7. Health insurance coverage will be affordable to the middle class.
8. If you currently have health insurance there will be no change in your benefits.
9. There will be no decline in Medicare benefits.
10. Insurance premiums will decline for the middle class.
11. It will unleash unprecedented entrepreneurial opportunity and stabilize the economy.
12. The deficit will decline, saving taxpayers $1.3 trillion.
13. It will cut $500 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse out of Medicare.
14. No government funds will be used to fund abortion.

The trade off for these benefits is a tax increase of $562 billion over 10 years, including a Medicare tax on dividends, rents, interest and investment income of 3.8% on individuals and small business earning over $250,000. The bill will mandate all Americans and business buy health insurance.

Save this post and re-read it on election day. If the majority of these points have come to pass, I suspect Democrats will strengthen their majorities in both the House and the Senate for many years to come.