WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today took to the Senate floor to demand the Senate Finance Committee hold a hearing to investigate the conflicting reports out of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the cost and economic impact of Obamacare.

“We can’t keep doing this,” Roberts said. “These are people’s lives we’re dealing with. CBO projections during the health reform debate seemed to significantly underestimate the negative impact of Obamacare  -- and because of those projections supporters were able to jam it through, and the American people have to pick up the tab on CBO’s errors.”

The CBO Budget and Economic Outlook released today stated that the President’s health care law would cost Americans 2.5 million jobs by 2024 – 1.5 million more than the previously estimated.  The report also stated that Obamacare will cost $2 trillion, more than twice as much as previously estimated, and that about a million fewer Americans than previously estimated will receive health insurance coverage in 2014.

Senator Roberts believes this drastic increase in the negative outlook of Obamacare deserves a more in depth explanation in front of the Senate Finance Committee.

Senator Roberts went on to say, “We must have accurate estimates on the costs and benefits of legislation so that we can do our jobs. This shouldn’t be about politics or gaming the system.  This is about people’s lives and it’s our responsibility to get that right. CBO must answer this Congress and America.”

The following is text of Senator Roberts’ remarks from his floor speech Tuesday as prepared for delivery, audio and video of the Senator’s remarks can be found HERE:

Today I come to the floor to discuss the recent report by Congressional Budget Office, the CBO, which contains updated estimates of the insurance coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more accurately known as Obamacare.

It was just on Sunday that the President told Bill O’Reilly – in front of all of America – that his health care bill is working.

Today – CBO has changed its tune.

We learn from the report that Obamacare will cost us $2 trillion dollars; as you’ll recall – President Obama told the country his bill would cost less than $1 trillion;

We also learn that we are expected to lose 2.5 million full-time jobs over the next ten years;

And finally, CBO says “exchange subsidies under the ACA will reduce incentives to work.”

If this is “working,” what does broken mean to this President?

As I am reading the report and accompanying reaction – these most recent updates sound hauntingly familiar. 

In fact, I believe this is something that I, and my colleagues, spoke about every day during the debate on health care reform.

We questioned whether the CBO estimates accurately reflected the impact of Obamacare on the American people.  Which leads to why I am here on the floor today. 

This is about accountability, folks.

During the debate we questioned whether the scoring done by the CBO was fraught with gimmicks and an unrealistic belief that Medicare would achieve significant savings in the future.

I have serious concerns with the accuracy of the scoring done on Obamacare and its portrayal of the impacts of this legislation versus the stated benefits for the American people.

We can’t keep doing this!

These are people’s lives we’re dealing with. CBO projections during the health reform debate seemed to significantly underestimate the negative impact of Obamacare, and because of those projections supporters were able to jam it through.

And the American people have to pick up the tab on CBO’s errors.

Today, I am calling for hearings in the Finance Committee, on which I sit, to demand CBO explain to Congress – and the American people -- why and how its scores, which led to the passage of Obamacare, didn’t tell the whole story.

This is about accountability for past actions and we must ask the question – was this political. Were the books cooked?

CBO needs to take responsibility for the differences between their earlier projections and the most recent updates just released this morning.

We must have accurate estimates on the costs and benefits of legislation so that we can do our jobs. This shouldn’t be about politics or gaming the system.

This is about people’s lives and it’s our responsibility to get that right! 

CBO must answer this Congress and America.

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