Skip ahead to page content

entitlements.jpg

Obamacare slowed, not stopped

July 24, 2009 | By Nathaniel Ward

Speaking on national television Wednesday night to bolster support for government-run health care, President Obama again called on Congress to pass health care legislation before lawmakers leave town in August. This press conference was part of the administration's multi-faceted strategy to counter declining public support for this sort of "reform."

It seems that lawmakers may now recognize the need to think long and hard before effectively nationalizing a large part of the economy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threw a wrench in the President's plans yesterday when he announced that the Senate will not be voting on health care before the August recess.

The complex plan—House Republicans released a graphic demonstrating just what a bureaucratic nightmare it would be—is estimated to cost upwards of $1 trillion and require onerous new taxes. But the plan is far from dead.

In a live chat on Politico.com, Heritage Foundation health care expert Ed Haislmaier explored the flaws in Congress' approach to health care reform and offered conservative alternatives.

He pointed out that Heritage has been heavily engaged in health care reform. For six years, he explained, Heritage experts "have been working with over 18 different states on consumer-centered reforms. We helped Massachusetts with their design and we provided extensive help to Utah which just passed reforms that they are on schedule to take effect beginning in January."

One of the key flaws in the proposal now moving through Congress is that it adds more than 100 pages of new health insurance regulation—regulation which could drive tens of millions of Americans from their private health insurance. Yet President Obama continues to claim that "if you have health insurance, and you like it, and you have a doctor that you like, then you can keep it," and he professes ignorance of the provisions that would gut private insurance (listen to the audio).

"This is truly a disturbing admission" that the President doesn't know what's in the health care bill, Heritage's Conn Carroll writes in the Morning Bell e-mail. His analysis was featured on the Drudge Report on Tuesday – which drove many visitors that our website briefly failed.

A brand-new analysis from The Heritage Foundation -- conducted by the Lewin Group -- shows that 83.4 million people would lose their private insurance under the Left's health care proposal. About 88.1 million workers would see their current private, employer-sponsored health plan go away and would be shifted to the public plan, and private insurance premiums could rise by $460 per insured person.

Such a result "flies in the face of the current promises that if you like your health insurance coverage, you will keep it," says Heritage Vice President Stuart Butler. "If the public plan is implemented as detailed in this House bill, people with private insurance will be moved on a public plan, regardless of what they want, because their employers will make that decision because of the financial incentives in the bill."

Heritage's Randy Pate also notes that "the abortion issue could again play a pivotal role in the direction of health care reform." Many moderates are concerned that the legislation grants broad powers to a new bureaucracy that would define health care benefits—benefits which could include taxpayer-funded abortions.

Check out Heritage's other health reform research at FixHealthCarePolicy.com.

Strengthening Heritage's Congressional outreach

Located at 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE in Washington, The Heritage Foundation's main headquarters stands just 250 yards from the Senate offices on Capitol Hill. Our close proximity has been critical to building dynamic relationships with Senators and their respective staffs.

But these offices are about a mile from the House of Representatives office buildings. And while we have maintained strong relations with the House, the distance has at times proved a barrier for busy lawmakers.

But it's critical that we educate these lawmakers on conservative principles and how best to defend and translate them into public policy.

That is why Heritage has decided to expand our outreach efforts by moving into space at 227 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. This building, an old storefront that Heritage is renovating into offices, is just steps from the House office buildings.

Scheduled to open in 2010, the three-story structure will be a critical outpost for Heritage on the House side of Capitol Hill. It will offer much-needed space for our staff to meet with Congressmen, hold briefings on critical policy issues with Capitol Hill staffers, and conduct long-term educational programs.

Like all Heritage projects, this building would not be possible without the generous support of our members. Several naming opportunities exist for this new building. If you are interested in such an opportunity, please contact us at membership@heritage.org or (800) 546-2843.

-- Amanda Reinecker

Other Heritage work of note

  • Congress has nixed funding for the F-22, America's best fighter aircraft. This "significantly undercut[s] our strength," Heritage's Conn Carroll writes. And since the cuts don't particularly save money -- "the F-22 amounts to a third of one percent of the overall 2010 defense budget" -- the change appears to have been "purely symbolic," to score political points. Lawmakers should remember not to play politics with national security.
  • "Every year, thousands of upstanding, responsible Americans run afoul of some incomprehensible federal law or regulation and end up serving time in federal prison," writes Heritage senior legal policy analyst Brian Walsh on FoxNews.com. But many of these criminals never realized they were committing a crime, nor did they have any intention of doing so. Check out Heritage's Overcriminalized.com to learn more about the unprecedented increase in federal criminal laws.
  • The Iraqi government has imposed "politically motivated constraints" on U.S. troops in an attempt to demonstrate its independence from Washington, writes Heritage Middle Eastern affairs expert Jim Phillips. "This new Iraqi policy is unacceptable," argues Phillips, as it poses great danger to both our troops and Iraqi civilians. Phillips urges President Obama to "do everything he can to leave behind a stable Iraqi democracy that is an ally against terrorism."
  • Join Heritage at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit 2009 in Washington, DC, from September 18-20. The event will feature prominent conservatives including former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Govs. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) and Rick Perry (R-TX), Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Mike Pence (R-IN), former Attorney general Edwin Meese, a special tribute to conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly, and much more. See the full program and register at valuesvotersummit.org.
  • President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reached an arms reduction agreement earlier this month in Moscow. However, economic conditions in Russia would have forced the country to cut certain outdated weapons anyway, argues Heritage President Ed Feulner. "Let's hope some senators question the wisdom of giving up valuable American weapons to get rid of crumbling Russian ones."

In other news

  • General Motors, which emerged from a politically-controlled bankruptcy process earlier this month, reported a 22 percent drop in global sales for the first six months of the year.
  • To avoid the appearance of wasteful spending during the recession, many federal agencies are foregoing holding lavish conferences at resorts. Perhaps the agencies will also consider substantial cost savings, not just window dressing.

Coming up at Heritage

To attend these or any other events at Heritage please RSVP at Heritage's website. Or you can view these events live online. All times are Eastern.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Amanda Reinecker contributed to this report.