Rep. Grimm Votes to Repeal Obamacare

Press Release

Today, Congressman Michael G. Grimm (R,C-NY) voted for H.R. 6079, the Repeal of Obamacare Act, a bill to fully repeal the health care law. This is the 31st time the congressman has voted to fully or partially repeal or defund Obamacare. Rep. Grimm is a cosponsor of the bill which passed the House today with a bipartisan vote of 244-185.

"I have consistently opposed the health care law because of its economy-crushing taxes and steep price tag, which harm our businesses and do little to address the core issue facing our healthcare system -- increasing costs," said Rep. Grimm. "This law hurts our seniors with steep cuts to Medicare, does nothing to create jobs, and jeopardizes the care that many of New York's families and individuals rely on. It is imperative that we repeal Obamacare and start fresh in order to work together on a bipartisan step-by-step solution with common-sense reforms that increase access to high-quality, affordable, and patient-centered care."

The Impact of Obamacare

Raises Taxes: The health care law imposes 21 new taxes on individuals and small businesses, totaling $813 billion in new taxes. Twelve of these taxes will directly hurt middle class families making under $250,000 per year.

Kills Jobs and Hurts Small Businesses: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found that the law will reduce the labor supply by 800,000 people due to new taxes and other incentives. A National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) study estimates that the multi-billion dollar tax on insurers will reduce private-sector employment in New York by 2,000 jobs by 2021 (1,600 in small business) and $1.9 billion in lost sales for small businesses. Finally, under the law, businesses with over 50 employees will potentially face devastating fees that could keep them from hiring new employees or reducing staff to fewer than 50. In fact, a recent Gallop poll found that half of small businesses are not hiring due to concerns with increased costs from Obamacare and government regulations.

Hurts New York's Seniors: In Rep. Grimm's district, there are 107,000 people eligible for Medicare, and of that number, 38,000 (36%) chose a Medicare Advantage (MA) Plan. Obamacare cuts $500 billion from Medicare, with a large portion of those cuts coming from MA. As a result, an estimated 56% of New York's MA beneficiaries will lose their coverage by 2017 and those remaining will see a $4,500 reduction in benefits.

If You Like Your Coverage, You May NOT be Able to Keep it: President Obama promised Americans that if you like your health plan, you could keep it under his law; yet, this is not the case. The CBO has estimated that 20 million Americans may lose their current health insurance coverage under the law and other estimates place that figure closer to 88 million. Further, nearly 170 million Americans received their health insurance through their employer in 2010, making employer-sponsored insurance the largest single source of health insurance in the nation. Over half of those are women and nearly a quarter are children under 18. A recent survey of employers by the McKinsey Group showed that 30 percent of employers said they will definitely or probably stop offering health care coverage after 2014.

Raises the Cost of Coverage: A study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation in March 2012 found that average premiums for families have risen over $2,200 since Obama became president. This is a clear violation of the president's promise that his plan would decrease premiums by $2,500. In addition, CBO predicts that health insurance premiums for individuals buying health coverage on their own will increase by $2,100 in 2016 when compared to what the premiums would have been without the law.

Cuts New York Hospital Funding: In total, New York hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and hospices will be hit with a $16 billion reduction in Medicare and Medicaid payments over ten years. Roughly $3 billion of those cuts will be in the form of disproportionate share hospital payment reductions.

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