The American People Have Been Misled About ObamaCare’s Costs.

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September 13, 2010 Monday FIRST EDITION

EDIT; Pg. 9A

382 words

Repeal and replace; Opposing view: The American people have been misled about ObamaCare's costs.

George Pataki

This month, with support for ObamaCare continuing to erode, a Democrat-led group is ramping up a multimillion-dollar national ad campaign to rescue the new law. At the same time, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote the health insurers' national association demanding they stop using "misinformation and scare tactics" to blame 2011 premium increases on ObamaCare.

The reality is that this is all part of an orchestrated, well-financed effort to mislead the American people as to the facts on ObamaCare. It's not surprising. The American people have been terribly misled about this bill since before it was passed.

We were told that most Americans would pay less for their health care. Yet the Obama administration's own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services just reported that health care costs will instead go up by over $1,000 per year by 2019 for a family of four.

We were told that ObamaCare would drive down the costs of health care. Yet just this week health insurers asked for premium increases of up to 9% solely because of ObamaCare.

We were told -- and how many times did the president say this? -- that if you were happy with your current coverage, you wouldn't need to change it at all. Yet under rules issued in June, his own administration estimates that 51% of all employees and 66% of workers in small businesses would have their current plan changed within three years as a result of new mandates.

We were told that ObamaCare would protect senior citizens. Yet millions of seniors will lose their Medicare Advantage coverage, and millions more, according to the administration's own analysis, will have difficulty accessing health care at all due to a half-trillion dollar cut in Medicare.

Higher health care costs. Cuts to seniors' health care. Higher taxes, penalties and fines on employers that keep them from creating the new jobs we need. These are the realities of ObamaCare.

The American people don't want government-run health care and are against ObamaCare for good reason. That is why Revere America is working to repeal and replace this law with health care reforms the American people need.

Former New York governor George Pataki is chairman of Revere America, a national organization dedicated to repealing and replacing the health care law.

September 13, 2010