Coburn, Barrasso Release Oversight Report on Obamacare's First 100 Days

Press Release

U.S. Senators and doctors Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) and John Barrasso, M.D. (R-Wyo.) today released an oversight report, "Bad Medicine: A Check-Up On The New Federal Health Law," that examines the implementation of the law nearly 100 days after passage. The full report is available here.

Coburn and Barrasso write in the report:

"One hundred days after the new federal health care law was passed, Americans remain anxious about how it will impact them and their families. Unfortunately, when measured against the Administration's own stated goals, the new health law fails to address the top health care concerns of the American people."

"As supporters of cost-effective, common-sense health reform, but staunch opponents of the legislation that passed Congress earlier this year, this report presents the American people with a check-up about the side effects and the implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as it begins to be implemented."

"More than a year ago, our country began a national conversation about how to best reform our nation's health care system. We were both early advocates for real health reform that would lower costs, empower patients, and increase access. We proposed health reform ideas that would ensure all Americans had access to affordable coverage."

"The passage of the new law is a lost historic opportunity. However, we hope the American people will not give up on their desire for sustainable health reform but will hold their elected leaders accountable to work together to craft common-sense, bipartisan, step-by-step reforms. We believe that real reform begins with replacing the new law with sensible provisions that will lower costs, increase patient control, and put affordable, high quality coverage within the grasp of every American."

"The intention of this report is to highlight some of problems with the law and its consequences. After 100 days after passage, the report reveals new information and goes through a litany of problems with this flawed legislation."

Facts highlighted in the report include:

FACT: The new health law increases the cost of health care.

FACT: Sixteen million Americans are forced into Medicaid -- a program that denies care, has higher rates of infant mortality, and yields lower health outcomes for patients.

FACT: Citizens will be forced to purchase costlier health insurance or pay a tax, but illegal immigrants will continue to get free care and those costs will be shifted onto citizens.

FACT: The individual mandate will fail with the IRS as the health care enforcer, but uninsured Americans will be considered violators of the law even as costs increase further.

FACT: Millions of Americans will lose their current health plan as employers either drop coverage or purchase more expensive, government-dictated health insurance.

FACT: Patients with pre-existing conditions still face care restrictions, since the new federal risk pool is seriously underfunded and will offer coverage months after required by the new law.

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