Surprise, surprise. In this week’s roundup of Obamacare headlines, you’ll see a security breach, hidden enrollment data, more deleted emails, and higher health care costs that reduce work hours. Unfortunately, it’s business as usual for the this new health care law.
Rising Costs Reducing Work Hours
The burdensome regulations and rising health care costs of Obamacare are affecting school districts across the country. In Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, substitute teachers are seeing their hours cut to less than 30 hours a week due to a specific provision in the health care law.
“You have to feel bad for the districts and the kids because the districts are the ones who need the subs, and the kids are the ones who are going to get hurt, and that’s what we’re all here for,” said Lisa Ubassik, a 7th grade Language Arts teacher.
HealthCare.Gov Website Security Breaches
HealthCare.Gov is having more trouble – only this time it’s not users’ patience that’s at risk; it’s their personal information. Despite requests from both Republican leaders and journalists, the Obama administration refuses to release how secure HealthCare.gov is or what security measures it’s using.
Sam Baker, a health care correspondent for National Journal told Fox News, “We also know there were some security tests that were delayed … or certified sort of haphazardly before HealthCare.gov launched, so there are those legitimate security concerns. But there are also legitimate questions about if the necessary steps were taken to protect the data this site holds.”
Frighteningly, this week, the Washington Post reported that health care data breaches have affected over 30 million Americans.
Hidden Enrollment Data
Investor’s Business Daily pointed out that it’s been over 110 days since the last “monthly” report on Obamacare enrollment numbers. A Government Accountability Office report found that the numbers released by the Obama administration are “unreliable” because they don’t match up with industry numbers. Plus, as IBD notes: “Since Obamacare gives delinquents a three-month grace period before canceling plans, many of them could be off the rolls by now.”
So why is the self-described most transparent administration in history hiding enrollment numbers? Megan McArdle, a Bloomberg View columnist contends it’s because enrollment numbers are dropping.
She wrote, “People are still citing enrollment figures from March as the number of people covered by Obamacare policies, even though that number didn’t tell us how many would ultimately pay.”
Even More Deleted Emails
Both CNBC and Fox News reported that a top Obama administration official asked her spokeswoman to delete an email from a senior White House advisor that discussed problems with HealthCare.gov.
That makes at least 20 Obama administration officials who have lost or destroyed some portion of their emails.
“Time and again, the self-proclaimed ‘most transparent administration’ has been anything but,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said. “And now we know that when HealthCare.gov was crashing, those in charge were hitting the delete button behind the scenes.”
These are just a few ways the president’s health care law is hurting Americans.
It’s more evidence that now – more than ever – Americans need real solutions for their health care.
House Republicans know that Americans are empowered when they are free to make their own health care decisions. That’s why our plan starts over with real health care reform that lets patients choose the plans they want, the doctors they need, and the costs they can afford.
Learn more about our health care plan and the health care accomplishments of the House Republican majority.
