Ahead of SOTU: Ranking Member Cassidy Releases Report on Devastating Impacts of ‘Bidenomics,’ Biden’s Failed Policies on American Families
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a report, ahead of the State of the Union, detailing the devastating impacts of President Biden’s failed policies on American families.
Since President Biden took office, real wages for all employees are down 1.3 percent while inflation has pushed prices up more than 18 percent. Additionally, consumer spending is up by 26 percent over the same time period, as Americans have to spend more just to pay for their daily expenses. ‘Bidenomics’ is also putting homeownership increasingly out of reach, especially for young families. Interest rates have increased to address inflation, resulting in mortgage rates that have nearly tripled since Biden took office in January 2021. A buyer of the typical home now pays nearly $2,200 total per month, more than double what they paid before President Biden took over.
Health: President Biden’s policies have also raised the cost of health insurance, threatening Americans’ access to crucial health care for themselves and their families. Under the Biden administration, average annual insurance premiums for families with employer-sponsored health insurance have risen nearly 8 percent, an increase of $1,747 paid out of pocket by Americans. American families directly paid 35 percent of that increase, with workers contributing an average of $6,575 for their family’s insurance premiums in 2023, which is $606 more than in 2021. Increases in health costs have hit small businesses and Americans buying insurance in the individual market particularly hard.
Additionally, these increases have devastated small businesses and Americans buying insurance in the individual market. For the nearly 50 million Americans who are employed by a small business, health insurance is no longer affordable. The typical employee of a small business contributes on average nearly $8,400 towards premiums each year for family coverage, which is around $2,000 more than workers employed by larger firms. For a quarter of Americans employed at small firms, enrollment in family health coverage can cost $12,000 or more. In the individual market, premiums have increased by nearly 25%. Even more concerning, a silver Obamacare plan for an individual carries a median annual deductible of $5,388, roughly three times the cost of the average aggregate deductible in employer-sponsored high-deductible plans.
In the report, Cassidy cites the administration’s new proposed policy that limits patients’ access to short-term and supplemental insurance coverage that best fits their health needs. Moreover, Cassidy rebuked the drug price controls in the Democrats’ so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which threatens the research and development of new, innovative treatments that save American lives.
He also sounded the alarm on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for its failure to properly care for unaccompanied migrant children in its custody. Under the Biden administration, HHS has dramatically weakened its vetting requirements for adult sponsors, leading to increased exploitation of these children.
Education: Additionally, Cassidy slammed President Biden for his administration’s student loan schemes, which transfer the burden of college debt onto taxpayers who chose not to go to college or already paid off their loans. This includes Biden’s new income-driven repayment (IDR) policy that allows a majority of bachelor’s degree student loan borrowers to not pay back even the principal on their loans, costing taxpayers as much as $559 billion. While the Biden administration prioritizes implementing these unfair schemes, it botched the implementation of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program. These delays prevent students and families from accessing crucial financial aid information as they choose the college they can afford to attend.
Labor and Pensions: Cassidy also criticized President Biden’s new joint employer rule, which threatens the viability of the franchise business model that employs over nine million Americans and has empowered Americans from all communities to become successful business owners. According to the International Franchise Association, when the Obama administration imposed a similar policy, small businesses lost $33.3 billion per year collectively due to increased liability costs and 376,000 job opportunities were eliminated. Additionally, the Biden administration has implemented a policy that authorizes asset managers to prioritize environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors over the financial success of their clients’ retirement savings. Finally, DOL’s proposed overtime rule reduces job opportunities for American workers and will again raise prices on families.
“President Biden and his ‘Bidenomics’ agenda have failed the American people. While President Biden claimed that he would grow the economy from the “middle out,” in reality, he is squeezing the economy through inflation and top-down mandates,” wrote Dr. Cassidy. “Americans are spending more and getting less, facing rising living expenses, dwindling savings, and fewer health, investment, and job options.”
“President Biden’s leadership has failed the American people. These failures mean record-breaking inflation, rising health care costs, open borders that jeopardize Americans’ safety, illegal giveaways that put taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars of other people’s debt, and top-down mandates that kill jobs and put unions ahead of workers,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “As Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee, I’m committed to holding the Biden administration accountable for a ‘Bidenomics’ agenda that puts its political allies ahead of the vast majority of citizens.”
Read the full report here.
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