The Washington Times - Supercommittee Needs to Put Obamacare on Table

Op-Ed

By Rep Ron Burgess

The easiest money to save is that you have not yet spent. So, why not start reducing the deficit by eliminating the Washington spending that is slated to begin in the future but that we can no longer afford? Seems like common sense.

In fact, the Joint Select Committee on Budget Reduction could easily achieve nearly its entire target of reducing the nation's deficit by $1.5 trillion and, most surprisingly, almost every dollar would come from benefits that do not yet exist.

Sound too good to be true? It's actually very possible. Consider this:

Two of the largest and costliest provisions in the new health care law create unprecedented government mandates, costing a combined total of nearly $1.5 trillion. These new mandates give the federal government far too much control over - and taxpayers far too much responsibility for financing - millions of Americans' health care. Given our deteriorating debt situation over the past year, it's clearer than ever: We can't afford this new spending. So why not start there?

President Obama, however, made his priorities clear during the most recent debt negotiations. Rather than agreeing to roll back some of his irresponsible spending policies, he chose to pretend nothing had changed with our debt conditions.

Washington often forgets that balancing a budget is not that different from managing personal finances. As with any family or small business, America cannot simply write blank checks thinking we possess unlimited overdraft protection. Reviewing our recent spending commitments and discussing where we went off-track is an obvious next step.

Few Americans recognize that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was the largest expansion of Medicaid in history. What was intended to be a safety-net program has morphed into a one-size-fits-all program. Under the expansion, a couple with as much as $64,000 a year in income as early retirees - well above the median American household income of slightly more than $50,000 a year - could qualify for Medicaid.

The Medicaid expansion alone will cost American taxpayers nearly $630 billion by 2021, and the program doesn't even take effect for two more years. Being forced to enter Medicaid or pay additional taxes becomes no real choice and is an affront to personal liberty.

But here's what's even more amazing in our challenging fiscal environment. The president's health care law creates another new entitlement program made up of subsidies to pay for a portion of millions of Americans' premiums in the new exchanges, costing American taxpayers an additional $777 billion.

Health care coverage should be affordable, and it is our goal to reform the nation's health care system so that every American has the ability to purchase affordable health insurance. But increasing taxpayer spending as costs continue to rise does not achieve that goal. The subsidies provided in the Affordable Care Act are irresponsible given today's budget realities and simply grow the government's grip on the middle class without doing anything to reduce health care costs.

We cannot afford to spend nearly $1.5 trillion on a program that has yet to take effect with money we do not have. These new programs will subsidize American households making as much as $90,000 a year.

Maybe it's time to cancel these new purchases before they are delivered.

The select committee will be looking to strengthen existing entitlement programs and improve Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security for future generations. If these existing entitlements are on the table, shouldn't the new ones created by the Affordable Care Act be as well?

We have a choice moving forward. We can make the select committee negotiations as painful as the last round, or we can, like every American family, have a logical discussion about cutting back on spending we simply cannot afford.

Democrats are quick to criticize Republicans for standing on principle against tax increases that would harm our fragile economic recovery. It's ironic that they relentlessly criticize Republicans for taking damaging tax increases off the table when they themselves refuse even to discuss trimming back on a new law in which we will pay more to get less and that our nation simply cannot afford. As the select committee gets to work, I encourage both parties to put the Affordable Care Act on the table alongside the other entitlements in need of reform. Failure to stop this spending boondoggle could imperil the benefits on which millions of Americans already depend.

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