Leading conservative women spoke out against Obamacare and discussed how to stop the implementation of the legislation on Thursday afternoon, arguing that the law will drive up costs and hurt vulnerable citizens.
Christie Herrera, vice president of the Foundation for Government Accountability, and Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, spoke at a women’s luncheon hosted by the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute and held at the Heritage Foundation’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.
"States are playing a huge role in keeping Obamacare on the ropes," Herrera said.
She highlighted the fight against Medicaid expansion in the states as a primary example of the ways in which states are resisting Obamacare.
The administration was counting on the Medicaid expansion contained within Obamacare as one major way of boosting the number of people with health insurance in the country, Herrera said.
However, the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that states could not be required to accept the expansion, and 16 states have subsequently refused to expand Medicaid while another nine are leaning that way.
Herrera said conservatives should continue to fight against expanding Medicare in undecided states such as Virginia. Swelling the rolls would cost hundreds of billions and hurt those who are already on Medicaid by making it more difficult to get an appointment with a doctor who accepts Medicaid, she argued, hurting "the most vulnerable members of society."
Conservatives who oppose the law have been given fresh fodder for criticism in recent weeks. The administration announced several delays in the law’s implementation during the first week of July, including a one-year delay on the employer mandate and a one-year waiver on the verification requirements for people who are applying for subsidies.
Turner noted that the avenues for opposing the law have shrunk in recent months, with the Supreme Court upholding the individual mandate and President Barack Obama’s reelection in November, ensuring that any attempts to repeal the law will meet a veto.
Nevertheless, Turner was undeterred.
"This is not over yet, folks," she told the crowd of women. "There are still a lot of ways in which this law will fail or be significantly altered."
She highlighted three major dates for the law’s implementation: Oct. 1, when enrollment for the exchanges begins; Jan. 1, when the insurance coverage begins; and April 1, when people who have not paid their premiums can be kicked off of their insurance plans.
"This is not pulling a lever in a voting booth," she said, contrasting the administration’s efforts to turn out the vote for the 2012 election with their effort to get younger uninsured people to enroll in the exchanges—and then consistently pay hundreds in premiums every month.
Experts agree that the exchanges’ viability is a major liability for the law as it gets implemented. If too few young and healthy uninsured people sign up, premiums could rise, making the insurance plans offered in the exchange unviable.
Turner also highlighted several efforts underway in Congress to defund the administration’s ability to implement the law and delay other parts of the law.
The House voted last week to delay both the individual and employer mandate, while some senators are spearheading an effort strip the administration of the resources to implement the law through the next government funding resolution.
"We have to use the legislative process, and for the first time we have some momentum," she said.