4/27/2010

Wasn't the health care bill supposed to reduce firm costs?

The Washington Times editorial page had this information and I have posted on it previously, but it is useful to see that others are also discussing this.

Democrats Admit Companies Were Correct In Warning Of Major Losses Due To ObamaCare
Posted by: Curt @ 8:13 am in Barack Obama, Congress, Economy, Health Care, Politics, Socialism, Socialized Health Care, Universal Health Care | 199 views
You recall Waxman’s outrage over large companies, such as AT&T, informing its shareholders that they will be taking large hits due to ObamaCare:
After the passage of the health care reform bill, some public corporations announced the bill would have adverse affects on how they do business. Deere & Co. announced that it would cost them an additional $150M in expenses, Caterpillar stated in an SEC filing they would earn $100M less in 2010, Verizon sent emails to employees informing them of their expected costs to increase in the short term, and AT&T filed with the SEC that they expect a $1B hit because of the new law.
Now, the the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is calling on the “senior company officials” of each of those companies, and others, to come to D.C. and explain / prove their claims. The stated purpose of this meeting is, “to ensure that the [health care] law is implemented effectively and does not have unintended consequences.”


Waxman eventually canceled those hearings and now we know why. The companies were right:
When major companies declared that a provision of the new health care law would hurt earnings, Democrats were skeptical. But after investigating, House Democrats have concluded that the companies were right to tell investors and the government about the expected adverse effects of the law on their financial results.
~~~
In a memorandum summarizing its investigation, the Democratic staff of the committee said, “The companies acted properly and in accordance with accounting standards in submitting filings to the S.E.C. in March and April.”
Moreover, it said, “these one-time charges were required by applicable accounting rules.” The committee staff said this view was confirmed by independent experts at the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the American Academy of Actuaries.
Mr. Waxman, the chairman of the committee, and Mr. Stupak canceled a hearing at which they had planned to question executives on the effects of the law.
A tabulation by the United States Chamber of Commerce shows that at least 40 companies have taken charges against earnings that total $3.4 billion since the law was signed.

Ed Morrissey:
Democrats knew full well that they had ended the tax credit for the subsidy that keeps retirees on private, employer-based prescription coverage. They did that deliberately in order to gain $5.4 billion in revenue to close the gap for the CBO analysis of ObamaCare. That money comes right off of the balance sheets of private industry — in fact, Democrats counted on it.
Now the private sector has $3.4 billion less to invest in new jobs and expansion (with more writedowns coming), plus Democrats have incentivized these companies to dump their retirees into the overextended Medicare Part D program.
Do we hear a public apology by Waxman for insinuating the large companies, that employ tens of thousands of people, were just playing politics instead of following SEC laws?
Nope….and we never will. He and his cohorts knew what they were doing, you have to vilify big business in their world of leftist ideals.

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