Ayotte: Obamacare Still a Mess

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) told Seacoast business leaders on Monday she's concerned employers will cut workers' hours and health insurance costs will skyrocket because of the new federal health care law.

The insurance plans offered through the exchanges go into effect in January.

Ayotte said several New Hampshire residents have had difficulty enrolling in the new Affordable Healthcare Act health insurance plan that was rolled out by the Obama administration Oct. 1.

On Sunday, the administration said more than 400 bugs were fixed and that enrollment success would increase from 40 percent to 90 percent starting Monday.

Ayotte said she has either sponsored or co-sponsored several bills dealing with Obamacare that have ranged from repealing the law to making changes in the definition of a work week from a 30-hour one to a 40-hour one. She also wants to provide more flexibility that governs how people can use their health savings accounts.

Despite the recent assurances given by the administration, Ayotte said, "There are still going to be a lot of difficulties on the back end" as far as how and when insurance companies will be paid premiums. Part of the problem is New Hampshire has only one health insurance provider on the health insurance exchange, she said.

Constituents have also told her they are receiving notices that they will pay higher premiums. Another issue is that some hospitals are being excluded from the health insurance exchange network. For example, people who chose to receive care from a doctor with Portsmouth Regional Hospital have been told they can no longer do that.

She said she is also receiving letters from employees who are now reducing some employees' hours to address the impact of the exchange requirements.

"Ultimately I see this health insurance legislation as driving up health insurance costs," Ayotte said.

Harrell Kirkstein, a spokesman for the New Hampshire Democratic Party in Concord, took issue with Ayotte's statements that workers could see their hours cut because of the health care exchange. He said two fact-checking groups have also said GOP statements that small businesses will cut jobs or reduce their hours are false.

"Kelly Ayotte continues to put partisan politics ahead of people, repeating false claims that have consistently been debunked by independent fact checkers," Kirstein said in a statement. "After three years in office she still has no serious plans to reduce health care costs, instead she wants to repeal expanded preventative care, re-open the Medicare Part D doughnut hole, and allow insurance companies to discriminate against people because of their previous illnesses. Her agenda is clear and fortunately it is not about helping the people of New Hampshire."

But at Monday morning's roundtable, some business leaders predicted that if they choose to no longer offer health insurance benefits and pay fines instead, workers will be forced to work two or three jobs just to work 40 to 45 hours per week to pay for health insurance coverage from the exchange. This could be especially true for small businesses with less than 60 employees that make up a majority of New Hampshire employers and drive the state economy.

"We could end up with more uninsured people a year from now than we had before we started," said Tom Buchanan, CEO of the Derry Medical Center in Londonderry. "There could be some brutal unintended consequences."

"People are very upset" when they find their health care choices within the network are limited, he said.

He also said that people are also finding the health care premiums are too high, even with the subsidies.

Some Seacoast area company leaders told Ayotte they have decided to self insure their employees so they can avoid the pitfalls of the new law. Mike Ambrogi, CEO of Novacure in Portsmouth, a biomedical firm that employs 125 people, said they made that change earlier this year.

"All of the issues that you have raised show this right now to be a mess," Ayotte told the business leaders.

She encouraged them to continue to tell her how the health insurance exchange will affect their companies going forward.