Remember Callahan's Courageous Health Care Stand, a Day Late and a Dollar Short?

Back in June, I told you that the federal health care overhaul, which congressional candidate John Callahan endorsed a day after it passed, is going to put County finances in intensive care. You see, Northampton County is self-insured. Its medical plan is administered by Capital Blue Cross, but all employee claims are paid from the County till. That means your tax dollars pay the bills, and those bills are going up for two reasons.

First, thanks to the overhaul, the County must now pay the medical, dental and even some eyecare claims of all family members under age 26. There is no requirement that they continue to live with their parents or even be dependents. They can even be married and raising families of their own. The County must still pay all of these expenses at no additional cost to County workers.

Second, there currently is a $12,500 annual limit on what the County will pay for retirees before insisting on other types of insurance. Thanks to the plan blessed by Callahan, that cap has now been lifted and the County must pay it all.

"Washington isn't sending us any money to pay the bills. They're just playing Santa Claus," remarked one County official.

In addition to the indirect costs that will be passed on to you by County governments, it will also hit American families and small businesses directly, with an increase in premiums. The Wall Street Journal reports this week that consumers and businesses in some states might face rate hikes up to 20 percent, largely due to mandates in the health care law. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary released a new analysis that shows national health expenditures will increase more rapidly over the next decade as a result of the new health care law.

In addition to the direct and indirect costs, there will be more paperwork and taxes for small businesses and individuals, and more job losses. The law contains more than $500 billion in tax increases, including a tax on medical devices that will raise costs and kill jobs here in Pennsylvania. Among its mandates is the “1099 provision,” which will greatly increase the amount of IRS paperwork for small businesses, costing time, money and jobs when small businesses and working families can least afford it.

Congressman Dent opposed the law and expressed concern that the new law would not reduce health care costs. He offered constructive amendments that would have enacted medical liability reforms to reduce the costly practice of defensive medicine, and remove the medical device tax. Of course, those amendments were ignored. Since the legislation was signed into law, Dent has co-sponsored legislation to repeal the detrimental “1099 provision.”

John Callahan was willing to join Moveon and scream "Health Reform Now" outside of Congressman Dent's Bethlehem office. But he refused to say exactly what he meant. He dodged the most critical issue of this generation, knowing that taking a position would cost him votes.

He did finally decide to support the health care reform bill, a day after it had passed. He led from the rear, not the most admirable quality in a leader. And the position he finally took was the one demanded by party bosses and the Washington establishment.

“John Callahan waited until the 13th hour to state his support for the health care law, but he still owes an explanation of how he thinks it’s going to save American families and small businesses money,” said Congressman Dent in a news release. “John Callahan is among the last people in America who think the government health care plan is going to help more people than it will hurt. Going forward, we must replace misguided policies of the current law with reforms that will address the rising health care costs that impact families, small businesses and our economy. John Callahan stands with the very policies that are raising health-care costs and killing jobs.”