19-Sep-2011 | By Shonda Werry, Contributing Editor
In the eighteen months since the Democrats passed President Obama's signature piece of legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the news about the impact of the law has been uncomfortable – at times even embarrassing – for Democrats. From skyrocketing insurance premiums to health insurance companies dropping coverage for people, the reality of ObamaCare has been dramatically different than the projections and promises Democrats originally made about the health care law. In 2009, as Democrats laid the groundwork for their centrally-controlled health care system, they made several stock claims: that the new law would lead to universal coverage, that the economy would be revived due to the PPACA, and that premiums would decrease. At times, they were even specific about their rosy predictions. In February of 2010, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made the groundless assertion that ObamaCare would create 4 million jobs, and 400,000 of those would be created "almost immediately."
Although Democrats were quick to cite numbers and statistics during the debate about ObamaCare, today they refuse to focus on the unfavorable numbers. Whereas all of the Democrats' earlier projections were hypothetical, based on nothing more than hope, we now have concrete numbers, based in reality and empirical evidence. These numbers should be included in the discussions about ObamaCare and potential reforms and repeal.
Democrats are justifiably alarmed by the ObamaCare numbers, and they have done everything in their power to distort the facts, discredit ObamaCare critics, and deny reality. But for the rest of us, the numbers tell a very compelling story.
ObamaCare by the Numbers:
Jobs & Economy:
67,600: The number of private-sector jobs created each month before ObamaCare became law. Compare that to 6,500: the number of private-sector jobs created each month since ObamaCare became law. Astoundingly, private-sector job creation today is only 10% of what it was before the law went into effect.
800,000: The number of jobs that Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former Director of CBO, predicts will be lost due to ObamaCare. Yes, the Democrats' "job-creating" health care initiative will actually lead to a deficit of 800,000 jobs.
$52 Billion: The new taxes that will be levied against small-business owners (job-creators) due to ObamaCare.
$500 Billion: The increase in the deficit due to ObamaCare.
1,400: The number of U.S. jobs that Boston Scientific will cut due to ObamaCare.
Medicaid Expansion:
80 Million: The total number of people who will be enrolled in Medicaid by the end of 2019.
Losing Health Insurance:
1,372: The number of "ObamaCare waivers" that the Health and Human Services department has issued in an attempt to mask the fact that ObamaCare would have led to hundreds of thousands of low-wage employees losing their health insurance.
22,000: The number of seniors in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire who have already lost their Medicare Advantage plans because of ObamaCare.
34: The number of states where it is now impossible to purchase a child-only health insurance policies due to ObamaCare's new rules.
57%: The percentage of employers who, according to a recent study, are considering severely reducing health insurance plans for lower-wage workers.
These numbers confirm conservatives' worst fears about the effect of ObamaCare. They also prove something else: Democrat policies are often better in theory than in reality and in practice. ObamaCare was an ambitious policy initiative that, even by the Democrats' own standards, has already been an utter failure.
President Obama recently attributed some of his presidency's failures to "bad luck." Remarkably, he seemed to be serious when he made this claim. What appears to be "bad luck" to the Democrats, however, is actually just the real world responding the way it always does to cumbersome interference from the federal government.
Shonda Werry is a former staffer at the Senate Republican Conference from 2004 to 2007, and has extensive public policy experience. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master's Degree from Johns Hopkins University.
