WASHINGTON – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) participated in a Finance Committee hearing designed to examine the broken promises and wasted tax dollars of Obamacare, five years after Democrats drafted the law behind closed doors and forced the flawed bill through Congress without a single Republican vote.
View Senator Roberts comments here
“Obamacare is bad for the economy, it’s bad for employers and employees, and it’s bad for the doctor-patient relationship,” Roberts said after the hearing. “I continue to be frustrated by the broken promises of this law and the constantly moving goal posts through which its supporters are claiming success.”
At the hearing Senator Roberts delivered the following statement:
“The broken promise of this law that I currently hear most about from my constituents is the impact on their premiums. The President told them this law would reduce premiums for the typical family by $2,500 a year.
“Jim from Overland Park, Kansas, tells me his 2015 premium went up 21%.
“William from Olathe’s monthly premium more than doubled if he wanted to keep his same plan. But as he says, ‘the devil was in the details as the deductible increased and virtually none of our doctors were in the new network.’
“And as April 15th approaches, the confusion and frustration with the law is bubbling up again as folks prepare their taxes.
“An independent contractor told me that due to an unexpected contract he received, his estimated income was off for last year. As a result, all of the premium tax credit he received over the course of the year is now taxable income. Instead of forgoing coverage and paying a $700 penalty, he now owes the IRS $6,700. He tells me he has since dropped his coverage.”
Roberts then questioned Dr. Doug Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former Congressional Budget Office Director, about the vast differences in the reported number of enrollees in Obamacare and if these new enrollees, regardless of the number, actually have access to timely and quality care.