Richard Burr: Care Act column misleading

by Senator Richard Burr, published in Greenville Daily Reflector, September 8, 2013.

On Monday, readers of this paper were treated to a misleading column from N.C. Policy Watch President Chris Fitzsimon about the supposed “many benefits” of the Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately for Fitzsimon, his piece largely missed the mark on the true impact this law will have on North Carolinians and the country.

As the government attempts to implement more and more provisions of the law, it is telling that even its most ardent supporters have begun acknowledging the disastrous effects this will have on doctors, patients, small businesses and families. One of the bill’s chief architects, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., recently admitted he feared a “huge train wreck” approaching while another, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, said the law is so complex that it is “just beyond comprehension.” Even big labor unions, traditionally loyal supporters of President Barack Obama, have said that this will “shatter” benefits and cause “nightmare scenarios.”

Looking at the full picture of what this bill does it’s easy to see why these individuals and organizations are now so concerned.

Although health care premiums for American families are already on the rise, the taxes and regulations under the ACA will continue to lead to increasing costs and premiums. It should not come as a shock that, as of the law’s three-year anniversary, almost 20,000 pages of regulatory red tape that stands more than 7 feet tall will result in premiums going up, not down. Additionally, taxes imposed on life-saving prescription drugs, medical device manufacturers and health plans will cause premiums to increase as well. The Congressional Budget Office notes that these taxes are projected to increase costs by the same amount as the tax imposed — that is a 1-to-1 increase in premium costs.

Furthermore, taxes such as the medical device tax will kill good paying medical device jobs in states like North Carolina and have a chilling effect on America’s ability to lead the world in medical innovation. Former Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue herself said that the medical device tax threatens North Carolina’s “important and growing medical technology presence” and “runs counter to our goal of domestic economic growth.”

Despite Obama’s repeated assurances that individuals who want to stay on their current plan will be able to do so, the CBO says 7 million Americans will no longer get their employer sponsored insurance.

For seniors, the Independent Payment Advisory Board will make automatic cuts to Medicare payment rates that will lead to reduced services and access to care. Medicare’s own independent chief actuary has predicted that the law will result in hospitals having to close their doors, the effects of which are certain to be felt in more rural communities first, adversely impacting rural patients’ access to care.

These harmful effects are a result of a one-size-fits-all approach to health care that seeks to empower the federal government to control the decisions of millions of Americans. Fitzsimon wants to take a few trees and call it the forest, but he cannot ignore the mounting evidence that the people of North Carolina will suffer from this misguided law.

The Affordable Care Act deserves to be repealed, but we cannot ignore the fact that something must be done to reform our nation’s health care system. Fortunately, we can do so without imposing big-government mandates and regulations that kill innovation, create disincentives for companies to hire workers and grow, and physicians to take on patients. Instead, we should pursue patient-centered reforms that increase access and affordability to quality care and put patients and doctors back in charge.