Political Quotes

“Last week, the Republican members of the Education and Labor Committee sent a letter to Chairman Miller asking that the chief actuary at the Medicare agency testify before the committee. The report from Richard S. Foster estimating the financial effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a number of adverse implications for employer-sponsored health care plans which make it worthy of consideration by the committee. The report shows that the act will cause health expenditures to grow by $311 billion over the baseline projections. The report raises the possibility of a substantial cost shift to private payers, such as employer-sponsored plans, as health care providers will seek to recoup underpayments to the Medicaid program. I am concerned that small businesses would be inclined to terminate their existing coverage and companies with low average salaries might find it to their advantage to end their plans, allowing workers to qualify for heavily subsidized coverage at taxpayer expense. As a member of the committee, I urge the chairman to allow this request for the chief actuary to testify on this new law and its implications for business.”