Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tn.), in a teleconference call with state TV reporters, made the following statement on the two-year anniversary this week of the new health-care law:
“Two years ago, I said that the new health-care law was historic but that, unfortunately, it was an historic mistake. And I’m afraid that’s turned out to be true.
“What we’ve already seen are mandates on the states that will force states to either raise taxes or cut services. We’ve seen Americans losing their employer-based health insurance. We’ve seen individual premiums going up, as I predicted that they would. Medicare has been cut and the money that should have been used to pay doctors at an appropriate level has been spent on new programs.
“The fundamental problem with the health-care law today is the same as it was two years ago. It’s well-meaning; it has some parts that are good. But it basically expands a health-care delivery system that everybody already knew costs too much, instead of going step by step to reduce the cost of health care so more Americans could afford to buy insurance.”