June 15, 2010--Gov. Mitch
Daniels (R-IN) delivered the keynote address at an American Enterprise
Institute conference on "Health Care Reform: An Initial Checkup."
Daniels described the law as "a huge mandated tax increase at the state
level" and said it "freezes in perpetuity the worst features of the
current system." Daniels said, "Don't
call this reform. It didn't reform anything. It took the form we had
and blew it up to poster size." He said the law could cost
Indiana $2.9-$3.6 billion over ten years, including about $1.3 billion
due to the cost of expanding Medicaid to 138 percent of the federal
poverty level. To illustrate his views, Daniels at one point held
up a large syringe labeled "Obama Care" that a Hoosier had given him;
instead of a needle, however, this syringe had a large screw.
Daniels said he was
unsure if Indiana would participate in the exchanges called for under
the law, noting that they are optional and "there are an awful lot of
unknowns in there." "This is going to be a very clumsy and
difficult and awkward system," Daniels said. Daniels also pointed
to
health care successes in Indiana, notably the Healthy Indiana Plan
(HIP) for the
uninsured, and the fact that more than 70 percent of public service
employees are covered by health savings accounts. He said that
under the reform, HIP likely would "subsumed and washed away." (AEI page)
|
