The passage of ObamaCare understandably had Barack Obama a little giddy this week, but in the aftermath, one had to wonder whether he’d even bothered to check what was actually in the final version of the bill.  As Allahpundit noted last night, Obama and Democrats have been bragging that people will luuuuuuuv their new ObamaCare bill when they find out that insurance companies can’t refuse to sell policies to children and young adults with pre-existing conditions, but, er … they still can.  D’oh! And as the Senate Republican Conference pointed out, that’s not the only point Obama got wrong, either:

Empty Promises on Health Care for Children and Young Adults:

• “Hours after President Barack Obama signed historic health care legislation, a potential problem emerged. Administration officials are now scrambling to fix a gap in highly touted benefits for children. Obama made better coverage for children a centerpiece of his health care remake, but it turns out the letter of the law provided a less-than-complete guarantee that kids with health problems would not be shut out of coverage.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “Gap in health care law’s protection for children,” Associated Press, 03/24/10)

• “The bill Obama signed leaves a giant loophole … The law exempts current insurance policies from having to include coverage for the young adults.” (Jane M. Von Bergen, “For young adults, there’s a hitch in health-care law,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 03/24/10)

Empty Promises on Lower Premiums for Everyone:

• “And Obama skips over an important caveat: The budget office didn’t say premiums would be lower than currently. It said premiums for some people would be lower than they would have been without the bill. Premiums for others would be higher.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “FACT CHECK: Spinning the new health care law,” Associated Press, 03/24/10)

Empty Promises on Saving Medicare:

·         “Savings from the Medicare cuts will be invested in government IOUs, like any other trust fund surplus. The special Treasury securities count as an asset on Medicare’s books — making the program’s precarious financial situation seem more reassuring. But the government will spend the actual money. And when time comes for Medicare to redeem the IOUs, lawmakers will have to scramble to come up with the cash.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “FACT CHECK: Spinning the new health care law,” Associated Press, 03/24/10)

Obama promised to force Congress to put bills on a website for five days before a vote so that the public could see what they contained.  Maybe the President should read bills before he signs them, too.

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