Obamacare's inconvenient truths exposed during shutdown

After years of Democrats telling the American people that former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a thriving system, the glaring truth revealed now during the government shutdown is that not only has the ACA resulted in widespread fraud and allegations of kickbacks to insurance companies, the American people are footing the bill for subsidies to hide the fact that Obamacare is broken. 

"Everything Obama told us was a complete lie," E.J. Antoni told John Solomon during a special report on the government shutdown sponsored by the Association of Mature American Citizens. 

Antoni, who serves as chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, continued: "When he said, 'If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.' No you couldn't. Obamacare made a lot of those health care plans illegal. He said, 'If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.' No, it forced a lot of doctors out of business, and it forced a lot of doctors to no longer take most insurance."

President Barack Obama repeatedly promised Americans during the rollout of the ACA — commonly known as Obamacare — that "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor," a claim intended to reassure Americans about the ACA's impact on existing healthcare arrangements. However, millions of people lost access to their preferred and established physicians due to narrowed insurance networks and cancellations of plans which did not comply with the law's new requirements, leading even left-leaning PolitiFact to name it the "Lie of the Year" in 2013.

Insurance companies pocketing profit from subsidies meant for Americans

Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., revealed the latest scandal within Obamacare. Bergman, speaking to Just The News, laid out the timeline for subsidies which were meant to lighten the burden for Americans but when unused, were pocketed by the insurance companies. 

Bergman explained that "In 2010, the Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act. Then in 2014, ACA premium tax credits became available, meant to help families earning 100 to 140% of the federal poverty level - that was designed to help those folks. In 2021, through the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act), Democrats temporarily extended and expanded those subsidies to everyone, regardless of income, for one year. In 2022, the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act), they extended the expansion again, but only through January 1 of 2026."

Dems let their own deadlines expire

Bergman emphasized that the expiration imposed by Democrats implicitly meant that the extension was not meant to be permanent. That extension expires and is what Democrats have shut down the government over. As Bergman puts it, "They're blaming us, the Republicans, for letting their own temporary extensions expire."

The largest surprise regarding these subsidies, is that they haven't been going directly to patients. They've been going to insurance companies, according to Bergman. "Insurance companies' profits right now are up something like 240+ percent. There's something morally wrong with that. Not only is it shamefully wrong, but morally wrong." 

Bergman did not name any specific insurance companies.

"Millions of these so-called ghost enrollees, people who are technically eligible, but are unaware of it, never use these subsidies. The insurers pocket the difference."

OpenSecrets reported that in 2012, the health insurance industry donated roughly $9.6 million to Democrats. In 2024, the industry donated almost $40 million to Democrats.

Private practices being run out of town

Gone are the days of family doctors operating private practices. 

Based on the most recent data from the American Medical Association (AMA) and other analyses, physicians who practice medicine fully independently (not owned by or affiliated with hospitals, health systems, private equity, or insurers) make up roughly 42-47% of all practicing physicians as of 2024. 

According to The Advisory Board, 2023 data show more than 77% of physicians are employees of hospitals, health systems, or other corporate entities, citing a report from the Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI).

Industry observers say that the consolidation was vastly accelerated by Obamacare's costly new regulatory burdens, administrative requirements, and reimbursement cuts that made independent practices financially unsustainable for many private-practice physicians.

Americans told ACA would reduce insurance rates, protect unions

Similarly, Obama repeatedly assured Americans that the Affordable Care Act would cause the average family's health insurance premiums to drop by up to $2,500 per year. In reality, premiums rose sharply for many individuals and families, with the Kaiser Family Foundation reporting an increase of over 100% in some individual markets from 2013 to 2017, prompting widespread criticism of Obama's promise as misleading. From 2013 to 2019, the national average premium hike was 129%. 

Adding insult to injury for unions who supported Democratic Party campaigns, including Obama's presidential campaign, Obamacare's mandates hiked premiums for union Taft-Hartley plans by adding costs without exchange subsidies. Those mandates included covering adult children to 26, removing lifetime limits, and requiring essential benefits.

In 2013, leaders from the Teamsters, UFCW, and UNITE-HERE warned these rules would wreck members' benefits and push employers to cut hours.