Here’s the president singing the Cleveland Clinic’s praises back in 2009:
"The reason I visited the Cleveland Clinic is because, along with the Mayo Clinic, they have been able to drive down costs more than any other health care system out there while maintaining some of the highest quality."
In other words, as this reporter noted at the time, President Obama saw the Cleveland Clinic “as a model for the future of health care in America.” The problem? The president’s own health care law is now forcing them to slash its budget.
An Ohio clinic that was touted by Obama while he was speaking on health care reform is now blaming ObamaCare after it was forced to cut $330 million from its budget.
Fox 8 reports the Cleveland Clinic, which is the largest employer in Northeast Ohio with about 39,000 workers in the region, announced the cuts to its 2014 budget at a meeting Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the clinic tells Fox News the clinic is being forced to cut back to prepare for increased costs and decreased revenue under the health care reform law.
These changes will include offering early retirement to approximately 3,000 employees, reducing operational costs, and then layoffsas needed.
The clinic says its main priority is to continue to provide a high quality of care during the transition, an attribute that led Obama to tout it in 2009 as an example of what hospitals could be under ObamaCare.
In a press conference in July of that year, Obama said the Cleveland Clinic is an example of health care that works “well.”
It seems as though the Cleveland Clinic was operating just fine before Obamacare came along. Now, of course, layoffs are expected, operation costs are increasing, and Northeastern Ohio's largest employer is uncertain what the future will hold for its employees. What a nightmare. I’ll leave you with this:
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney did not comment when asked about the budget cuts to the Cleveland Clinic at a press briefing.
Surprise.