Obamacare's unhappy four-year anniversary
It’s been four years since President Obama’s signature health care overhaul, Obamacare, was signed into law. And for many Montana families, reflecting on the consequences of this law is not a happy trip down memory lane.
Four years ago, Montanans were told by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Congress would “have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
That quote — which was once simply fodder for pundits and political ads — is now becoming an unfortunate reality.
After President Obama and his allies pushed through the health care bill, Montanans were left to wonder how the bill would truly affect them. This past year, the law’s mandates went into effect — and after years of waiting, Montanans found out what was really in the bill.
In the last year alone, tens of thousands of Montanans have seen their insurance plans canceled. Montanans were promised by President Obama, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” They have since found that the reality is very different.
As I travel around our state, hundreds of Montanans have shared stories about increased costs for their small businesses, loss of wages due to their work hours being cut, and discontinued health care plans.
There is no relief in sight. Just this week, health industry officials said that for many Americans, premiums will continue to rise — doubling in some regions — due to Obamacare.
Now, there are some who believe we should “move forward” with the implementation of this law, and that “it makes no sense for Congress to repeal it.” I strongly disagree — as do the majority of Montanans.
It seems like every day, Montanans hear of another new consequence of moving forward with Obamacare. Thousands of Montanans are dealing with canceled plans or higher premiums — not to mention the thousands of dollars in new fees and compliance costs that Montana businesses are being forced to shoulder.
And whether it’s a broken and insecure Web site, or President Obama single-handedly delaying key provisions, it’s clear this law isn’t working.
After four years of seeing this train wreck of a law become a reality, the last thing that makes sense is to keep moving forward with Obamacare.
Like most Montanans, I agree that we need to reform our health care system — but Obamacare has turned out to be anything but affordable or the positive change Montanans were promised.
Montanans know that a Washington-driven solution is not going to produce the right results for Montana. We need reforms that work to slow the rapid growth in health costs, without jeopardizing access to high-quality care or taking choice away from Montanans.
We need greater freedom in shopping for health insurance and increased transparency in how much medical care costs. We should reward innovation in the delivery of health services.
And most importantly, Montanans and their doctors — not government bureaucrats or insurance agencies — should be in charge of health care decisions.
We need real health care reform. But moving forward with a deeply-flawed law isn’t the answer.
Growing up in Montana and learning how to fish as a kid, I know that when your fishing line gets tangled up, you’ve got two options. If it’s just a couple knots, you can take a minute and untangle that line. But sometimes, your line is so badly knotted up, and you have to decide, “Do I try to untangle it? Or do I just cut the line and tie a new fly on?”
After four failed years, Montanans know that Obamacare is too badly tangled to fix. It’s time to cut the line and tie on a new fly.
Rep. Steve Daines is a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.