Religious Liberty:
Background:
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The Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule in January 2012 that would force all employers to provide contraceptives and abortifacients (like ella and Plan B) to their employees.
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Following outcry from Catholic bishops (who are religiously opposed to contraceptives), President Obama offered a “compromise” which did little more than exempt churches, but failed to exempt their church-based schools, charities, hospitals, or other religious organizations.
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Previously, legislation like ObamaCare has always included a clause exempting those with religious and/or moral objections to providing these services.
Bottom Line: ObamaCare forces Americans to violate their consciences. This is an absolute infringement upon religious liberty.
Sanctity of Life:
Background:
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The Obama Administration promised that no person would have to finance abortions against his or her moral/religious conscience under ObamaCare.
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In the recent final rule on exchanges in the health care plan, a plan that covers abortions may participate in the exchanges, and people who have been enrolled in those exchanges will be required to pay an abortion surcharge.
Bottom Line: ObamaCare allows for the provision of and payment for abortions. Essentially, President Obama’s plan is forcing women to pay for health services they neither need nor want and, in fact, may find morally objectionable.
Child Insurance:
Background:
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Under ObamaCare, insurers are under a “guarantee issue” requirement for all child-only health insurance.
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This “guarantee issue” essentially mandates that insurance companies cannot deny coverage to children based on pre-existing conditions.
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Forcing insurance companies to accept any child with any pre-existing condition can pose a significant cost and burden on these companies; insurers are already beginning to drop their child-only insurance plans, because they can no longer afford to make these plans available.
Bottom Line: In an effort to aid children with pre-existing conditions, ObamaCare is actually lowering the availability of insurance available for all children. While the Obama Administration would like to believe that the insurance market can foot the bill for children with pre-existing conditions, the free market shows that it cannot.
The Economy:
Background:
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Although the original cost of ObamaCare in 2010 was $900 billion, over the past two years, that number has skyrocketed to $1.7 trillion.
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ObamaCare will lead to $2 trillion in higher taxes for the country.
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Within five years of the passage of ObamaCare, the nation debt will double; in 10 years, the national debt will triple.
Bottom Line: ObamaCare puts a significant strain on the taxpayers and the economy and spends money that the nation simply does not have.
Seniors and IPAB:
Background:
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The Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, is an unelected board of fifteen members appointed by the executive branch and given oversight and budgetary power.
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IPAB is limited to only making reductions in payments to medical providers.
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The IPAB will essentially allow the government to pick and choose what services seniors receive from their doctors.
Bottom Line: IPAB removes power from the voter-accountable legislative branch of government.It takes responsibility for making medical decisions out of the hands of doctors and patients and, instead, places them in the hands of an unelected, unaccountable board of bureaucrats, forcing doctors to make these decisions based on IPAB’s reimbursement schedule.Due to the reduction in funding that IPAB is liable to make, IPAB will inevitably lead to rationing and treatment that could lead to government significantly influencing doctors’ decisions on treatment and surgery.