Statement by Governor Daniels on Passage of Federal Health Care Bill

Statement

"Our two best hopes for more jobs are investment and small business. The new 'health care' bill raises taxes drastically on both, and will harm our economic prospects badly. Hoosiers will also face higher state taxes as Medicaid rolls explode. It will raise by trillions the crushing debt we already are leaving young Americans; any claims to the contrary are worse than mistaken, they are knowingly fraudulent. In a life of optimism about America and its future, this morning I am as discouraged as I can remember being."

The governor discussed the bill's Indiana impact with reporters during a brief media availability this morning. Audio of the governor's comments can be found at this address: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Audio/032210_Media_Availability.mp3

Indiana Impacts
Health Care Reform Facts

* Through a massive expansion of Medicaid, half a million (500,000) new Hoosiers would become eligible, costing Hoosier taxpayers billions more in state taxes. One in four Hoosiers would be on public assistance.
* The legislation mandates a costly increase in the Medicaid provider reimbursement rate to help ensure primary care doctors are available to care for this huge new influx of Medicaid patients. Unfortunately, after just two years, the state is left to pay for this costly new benefit.
* The Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) would be eliminated as the new federal rules would force the 45,000 families who are currently covered into the Medicaid fee-for-service delivery model, losing the cost saving and quality advantages of consumer-driven health care.
* Many Hoosiers who currently have health insurance will pay higher premiums - the Congressional Budget Office estimates an average increase nationally of $2,100 for some families, and a study of the effects in Indiana showed premium increases ranging up to 78 percent. Premiums will continue to rise because the drivers of rising costs in the health care system are exacerbated rather than controlled by the legislation.
* A growing and job-creating life sciences sector in Indiana will be hit with huge new tax increases: at least $20 billion for the device manufacturers and $90 billion for pharmaceutical companies. These costs will be passed to consumers and will result in job losses in Indiana.
* A job killing tax of $2,000 per employee will be levied on many companies which cannot afford or choose not to provide coverage to their employees, including Indiana.
* The costs for this massive entitlement expansion are vastly and misleadingly understated: An honest estimate would show an addition of more than a trillion dollars to the national debt.

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