The Effect of Obamacare on the State of Texas

Senator John Cornyn breaks it down by the numbers in the effect the health care reform legislation recently signed into law by President Obama will have on the State of Texas:

1) $102,500 is the current Texas-household share of the $12 trillion national debt, which the new unsustainable healthcare entitlement will skyrocket.

2) $20,140 in new Washington spending over the first 10 years for every household in Texas.

3) 532,000 Texans enrolled in Medicare Advantage will have their benefits reduced by half. (Congressional Budget Office)

4) Approximately 7.9 million Texas households making less than $200,000 will pay higher taxes. (Joint Committee on Taxation)

5) 979,000 Texans in the individual insurance market will see premiums skyrocket by 61 percent. (Oliver Wyman)

6) 20 percent higher health care costs or a punitive new tax for failing to comply with dictates from Washington for Texas small businesses employing 50 or more people and 7,243 Texas construction companies employing 5 or more. (U.S. Census Bureau)

7) 1.25 million Texas college students will be overcharged an average of $1,800 each on their student loans to fund health care and other government programs. (Project on Student Debt)

8) $24.3 billion over 10 years in new costs to Texas (due to the unfunded Medicaid expansions) will force the governor and legislature to raise taxes, raise college tuitions, decrease the quality of education, or all three. (Texas Health and Human Services Commission)

9) The youngest 30 percent of Texans will pay 35 percent more based solely on their age as the new regulations drive up health care premiums in the individual market. (Oliver Wyman)

10) 2 million low-income Texans will be added to the state’s Medicaid rolls, even though only 38 percent of doctors in the Dallas-Fort Worth area can accept new Medicaid patients, and similar scenarios are popping up across the state. (Texas Health and Human Services Commission)

Here are some solutions offered by Senator Cornyn that would lower costs:

· Lower costs through small business health plans

· Increase competition with the purchase of insurance across state lines

· Limit junk lawsuits against doctors

· Give states incentives to lower costs and expand access

· Promote transparency about cost and quality

· Reduce waste, fraud, and abuse

· Empower patients through Health Savings Accounts