OhioGOP: Sherrod Brown "No Brain Surgeon" When it Comes Obamacare

Release:

Columbus - Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine released the following statement this morning in regard to Sherrod Brown's support for the extremely flawed Affordable Care Act of 2010.

"The more we learn about Obamacare, the more flaws emerge.  Objective news sources agree that Sherrod Brown supported legislation which reduces access to affordable health care, misspends taxpayer funds, and places undue burdens on the backs of small businesses and our already cash-strapped state."

"I know taxpayers agree with the Columbus Dispatch when they said, it doesn't take a 'brain surgeon' to determine the harmful effects of Obamacare which lay ahead.  That's why in 2012 Ohio will retire Sherrod Brown and replace him with a Senator who will work to repeal this disastrous piece of legislation once and for all."

Background Information:

Obamacare Was About Securing Political Legacy for Obama and Sherrod Brown.  "this law was never about sound policy. It was about politics and presidential bragging rights. A Democratic congressional majority used a moment of dominance to impose a hugely expensive and widely opposed new social program on the nation. The president saw it as the keystone of his legacy." (Editorial, "Extreme Demand," Columbus Dispatch 6/29/11)

Obamacare Decreases Access to Affordable Health Care. The United States faces a daunting shortage of doctors, a problem that President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul would critically exacerbate as it seeks to provide 32 million additional people with health insurance. (Editorial, "Extreme Demand," Columbus Dispatch 6/29/11)

• "The Association of American Medical Colleges projects Obamacare will worsen physician shortages by more than 50 percent, starting in 2015. By 2020, the nation will be short 45,000 primary-care physicians and 46,000 surgeons and specialists." (Editorial, "Extreme Demand," Columbus Dispatch 6/29/11)

Rush to Implementation Led to a Lack of Preparedness. "The real problem is that the issue of doctor supply should have been studied before the health-care overhaul mandated a huge increase in demand, not after." (Editorial, "Extreme Demand," Columbus Dispatch 6/29/11)

Obamacare Places Onerous Burden on Cash-Strapped States & Businesses

Health Care Reform Killing States' Already Strapped Budgets.  "States already can't win. They've been shifting funding from education, safety and all other programs to pay for their share of Medicaid and Medicare, which is often the largest chunk of a state's budget. Many states have found themselves in the position of cutting benefits for patients and lowering reimbursement rates to providers, which likely will cause more doctors to turn away Medicaid patients, as rates don't come close to covering their costs."  (Editorial, "Worse and Worse," Columbus Dispatch, 6/26/11)

• State's Certain to Feel the Effects Financially.  "Officials project the law will cost Ohio $2.3 billion from 2014 to 2019. Overhauling health care isn't supposed to add to the federal deficit - a highly suspect claim - but the states are certainly going to feel the pinch."  (Editorial, "Worse and Worse," Columbus Dispatch, 6/26/11)

Health Care Reform Written with Lies, "Arm-Twisting and Political Horse-Trading."  "But what else can one expect from a bill that was more than 1,000 pages long, cooked up behind closed doors without input from doctors and hospitals, justified with dishonest accounting and rushed through using arm-twisting and political horse-trading? Nothing in the law improves health care itself; it simply shoehorns more Americans into the already crowded and deeply flawed health-insurance system."  (Editorial, "Worse and Worse," Columbus Dispatch, 6/26/11)

Reform Will Actually Raise Rates on Financially Strapped Americans and Businesses.  "Already, companies that provide health insurance have seen a rise in premiums, as insurance companies now are forced to extend coverage to adult children of working parents."  (Editorial, "Worse and Worse," Columbus Dispatch, 6/26/11)

The $450 Billion "Glitch"

$450 Billion "Glitch" Allows Middle Class People to Get Nearly Free Insurance under Medicare. "President Barack Obama's health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed." ("Glitch in Obamacare Could Give Middle Class Insurance Coverage Intended for Poor," Associated Press, 6/21/11)