In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, the President joked about the fact that House Republicans have repealed the Healthcare law, and affirmed his commitment to his administration’s signature piece of legislation.
Just one day later, however, the fate of the same Healthcare law appears more doubtful, perhaps, than the President and the Democrats imagined.
According to Foxnews.com, Medicare’s Chief Actuary Richard Foster told House Budget Committee members on Wednesday that the two central premises of the Healthcare law, upon which the President and Democrats have been defending the law, are not likely to come to fruition.
Foster responded to two “True-False” questions, posed by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-California): 1) whether the law will keep down healthcare costs; and 2) whether the law will allow people to keep their health insurance if they choose.
Foster responded, “I would say false, more so than true,” to the question about costs, and “Not true, in all cases,” to the question about keeping coverage.
According to Foxnews.com, Foster, an independent economic expert, has expressed his skepticism of both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations regarding Obamacare and the latter’s 2003 Medicare prescription drug advantage plan.
With Speaker John Boehner and the House Republicans following through with repeal of the Healthcare Law in that chamber, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell moving to bring the repeal bill to the floor of the Senate, and more than half of the states challenging the law in the courts, these statements by Foster seem to give even more support for Republicans’ replacement reforms.