President Obama’s Latest Campaign

President Obama’s health care law is on shaky ground. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office predicts the Administration’s missed deadlines and program delays show potential for “implementation challenges going forward.” While the American people brace for a rocky rollout, the Obama Administration’s mantra remains the same: “Trust us.”

Americans are confused, skeptical, and anxious about the law. Four years ago the President sold his health care law by making one promise after another. Today people know what is in the law – and they are finding out it is bad news.

The implementation clock is ticking, and President Obama is running out of time. So his team goes back to what it does best – campaigning. According to Politico, “a trio of Obama’s most experienced campaign operatives – one in the West Wing, two others in outside groups closely allied with Obama – are overseeing an effort to ensure that the Affordable Care Act, the president’s biggest legacy project, doesn’t turn into the failure the GOP predicts it will be.”

For the law to succeed, Administration officials desperately need millions of young, healthy, uninsured Americans to buy more expensive, government-mandated insurance plans this fall. Enter Organizing for Action and Enroll America. The successor organization of President Obama’s campaign, OFA this week unveiled a new seven-figure health care advertising campaign for this summer. Using television, social media, and targeted messaging campaigns, OFA’s primary goal is to sell the health care law. Enroll America has a similar mission. It is a coalition, run by a former top Obama White House official, tasked with grass-roots outreach, online organizing, and raising money to pay for more media campaigns.

Nancy-Ann DeParle -- former head of the White House office of Health Reform and Obama’s Deputy Chief of Staff -- is reportedly fundraising for Enroll America as well. Industry leaders know that these current and former staffers have a direct line to the White House. So when the CEO of a health care company gets a phone call from OFA, Enroll America, or HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, he or she is probably going to treat the conversation as if the White House is calling and asking for help. With this pressure to support the President’s health agenda, there is at least the appearance of a culture of intimidation.

Rather than admit his law costs too much and fails to work the way he promised, the President and his allies just keeps trying to sell it. Here is what they will leave out of the sales pitch:

• Losing Employer Coverage. While the Administration worries about getting 2.7 million young, healthy, uninsured people to sign up for government benefits, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates seven million people will lose the employer-sponsored coverage they have today. A University of Chicago study shows more than half of the individual insurance plans offered today do not meet the health care law’s standards and will likely disappear.

• Premium Rate Shock. The President’s top health care advisor admitted that some people will see their premium costs go up because of the law. More than 30 separate studies confirm it. Many who are eligible for taxpayer subsidies will still pay higher premiums than they do today, especially young people. Finally, CBO determined that five million Americans will not get a subsidy to buy President Obama’s more expensive insurance.

• Restricting Job Growth. Economists fear the health care law will hurt job creation. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 71 percent of small businesses say the law makes it harder to hire more employees. The Federal Reserve warns of employers citing the health care law as a reason for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff. News reports note a growing concern that employers will respond to the law’s mandate to offer health insurance by cutting hours and lowering wages.

Health Care Headlines

National Review: “Young People Should Say No to Obamacare” Starting in 2014, Obamacare will attempt to get almost every American to obtain health insurance. The system desperately needs healthy young people, millions of whom don’t have health insurance, to sign up because their money is needed to subsidize treatment for older, sicker Americans. But will they?

Real Clear Politics: Op-Ed: Sen. Tom Coburn and Gov. Bobby Jindal: “Fix Medicid, Don’t Expand It” When the Supreme Court decided Obamacare’s massive expansion of Medicaid would be an unconstitutional “gun to the head” of states, the Court solved one problem for states but created another. States now have to decide whether to voluntarily accept Obamacare’s Medicaid dollars or develop their own, innovative ways to serve their state’s low-income populations. We believe the more responsible and compassionate solution is to reform, rather than expand, Medicaid.

The Washington Times: “Obamacare benefits mandate could further phase out full-time work” President Obama’s health care reform is prompting employers to hire more part-time and temporary workers to escape paying benefits under a mandate that goes into effect next year, amplifying a trend toward transient employment that took hold during the recession.

McClatchy: “Obamacare’s big question: What’s it going to cost me?” The cost of health coverage under Obamacare remains one the biggest mysteries of the nation’s health care overhaul. But nagging cost questions will slowly be answered this summer as insurers and state officials set 2014 health plan rates for people who buy coverage outside of work or purchase it through small employers.

Wall Street Journal: “Health Insurance Exchanges Are Falling Behind Schedule” Government officials have missed several deadlines in setting up new health-insurance exchanges for small businesses and consumers—a key part of the federal health overhaul—and there is a risk they won’t be ready to open on time in October.