As 2015 comes to an end, I have many issues on my mind. As always I am focused on my family, my constituents and the work that needs to be done in Congress to ensure all our loved ones have the health care they deserve. As a doctor and a lawmaker I wear two significant hats, but this December I join another important community — senior citizens.
There are many changes that come with this next birthday, and I am finding that one of the most complex and exasperating is transferring from mandated Obamacare over to Medicare. Medicare has a long tradition of supporting aging adults with crucial financial support, but like all other aspects of our health care system, the Affordable Care Act has made things difficult.
I did not take the special deal the administration afforded to Members of Congress — and I signed up for Obamacare (unsubsidized) just like everyone else in Texas. It is ironic, though, that the switch over to Medicare is not a simple transaction; after all the federal exchange is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But if there is one thing I have learned in the last several years it is that nothing under Obamacare is free of red tape and frustration.
Thousands of Americans my age understand the challenges of health care as do all generations that have to grapple with our poorly administered exchanges. In fact, many Americans are simply staying away from enrollment all together. When Obamacare was passed it was estimated that 8 million people would sign up for insurance in 2015, but after years of mishaps only 1.3 million new members actually joined — less than 50 percent of the prediction. If that holds true then 2016 enrollment will total between 9.4 million and 11.4 million, only half of the initial prediction of 21 million Americans.
To make matters worse, Americans that opt out of health care due to a variety of ACA burdens will now be hit with an even higher fine. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, households without health insurance will be forced to pay nearly $1000, a 47 percent increase over the previous year. This poorly veiled effort to encourage greater enrollment in a broken system is not the kind of fix the ACA needs. Efforts to get Americans health coverage should be focused on positive policy initiatives not cynical and burdensome fines.
Insurance companies are also feeling the pinch under the ACA’s web of regulations, and some big names are now considering abandoning the exchanges all together. These insurance companies have tried to adapt to Obamacare, but lower earnings across the board are pressuring firms to exit the ACA all together. While we should not be surprised by this news, it is a serious consequence of the government’s attempt to oversee an industry it has no expertise or experience in running.
The consequences of Obamacare mount ever higher as we trudge along into 2016 with the law on life support. Just this month the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report finding that Obamacare will reduce total workforce almost 1 percent as workers cut down on hours to comply with ACA mandates. Our recovering economy cannot afford to lose what the CBO estimates will be the equivalent of 2 million jobs. We must fix health care now before it is too late.
Representative Michael C. Burgess, MD (R-TX) is the most senior physician in the House Republican Conference. He is the founder of the Lone Star Leadership PAC, which launched the STAT Initiative to engage and encourage healthcare professionals in order to influence healthcare policy discussions. Visit statinitiative.org. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
