Texas Gov. Rick Perry says to expect more of the same "delays, deceit, and debacles" surrounding Obamacare this year.
In an op-ed for the
Dallas Morning News, Perry slammed President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy, saying that "Americans face the full brunt of the disastrous impacts" of the "unaffordable" healthcare act in 2014.
The Republican governor, who is stepping down this year possibly to concentrate on making another bid for the White House in 2016, attacked Obama's infamous "promise" that Americans could keep their healthcare coverage if they wanted to.
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"People all across the country have witnessed what a disaster this program has been from its earliest stages, ranging from the $600 million website debacle to the sad fact that President Obama flat-out deceived the American people when he promised that those who like their coverage could keep it," he said.
"To stem the bleeding, the administration is resorting to arbitrary delays for some Obamacare mandates, which only inject more confusion into the marketplace and with consumers."
He said that the president and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius are attempting to push "a faltering program" to an American public who have become increasingly disillusioned with the new law, which went into effect on January 1.
"Sadly, it takes more than empty assertions to fix what ails Obamacare," he said in his op-ed piece. "To start with, consider the nearly six million Americans estimated to have already lost their insurance thanks to Obamacare. This was not something the administration told us about, although it should have foreseen this catastrophe.
"Instead, they claimed seven million people would be signing up on the federal exchanges. That’s the number they estimated would be necessary to make the program financially feasible. To date, the administration estimates about two million people have signed up for insurance, far short of its target of 3.3 million by now."
He went on, "The math gets worse heading into the new year. Starting in 2014, up to 80 million Americans might lose their employee-sponsored policies because those policies don’t comply with Obamacare specifications. And those fortunate enough to keep coverage will still face a host of healthcare taxes, fees, premium increases and increased out-of-pocket costs."
Perry says that millions of Americans will feel the pain of "sticker shock" this year, including small business owners who will see how Obamacare affects their bottom line to employees who will see their earnings cut "dramatically" by the higher cost of premiums.
The governor also warns that many employees will lose their jobs because owners don't want to pay for higher insurance policies, or have their hours reduced by companies trying to save money to afford Obamacare.
Perry wrote, "The insurance industry — already being forced to cover more people without seeing the promised influx of younger, healthier uninsured purchasing coverage to help cover costs — is being forced to cut costs and raise premiums, meaning less choice, less coverage and longer wait times for Americans at doctor’s offices and hospitals, despite paying more money out of their pockets."
Calling it a "backdoor expansion" of Medicaid, Perry pointed out that Obamacare is cramming even more Americans into an "already broken and costly Medicaid system" by disregarding people's income and assets.
He added, "The delays, deceit and debacles that marked Obamacare’s rollout in 2013 show no signs of slowing in the new year. Despite what they say, not only is Obamacare not solving any of our healthcare issues, it’s making them far worse. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something — something you don’t want and can’t afford."
Perry, who made a brief run for the presidency in 2012, has not announced whether he will make an attempt in 2016. But Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said earlier this week that Perry had done a "terrific" job for the Lone Star State's economy and hinted that he might vote for him in the GOP primary if Perry did indeed repeat his White House bid.
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