Guest Post by Duane Norman
Seeing a lack of competition in many of the health law’s online insurance marketplaces, Hillary Clinton, President Obama and much of the Democratic Party are calling for more government, not less.
Mr. Obama’s signature domestic achievement will almost certainly have to change to survive. The two parties agree that for too many people, health plans in the individual insurance market are still too expensive and inaccessible.
Source: Ailing Obama Health Care Act May Have to Change to Survive | NY Times
The hits just keep on coming for Obamacare. It is increasingly difficult to find people in support of the healthcare reform law as it currently exists. Though, the NY Times is truthfully just calling for more Obamacare, specifically a “public option”, which will be bankrolled by the taxpayer. Once again, ZeroHedge said it best:
But with most insurers around the country complaining that they’re losing $100’s of millions on the Obamacare exchanges, it’s no wonder that Senate Democrats would call on the only investors in the world that are willing to consistently lose money offering a service: the American taxpayer. If at first you don’t succeed just throw more tax dollars at it.
The entire crux of my article detailing my own experience with the healthcare law was the principle that young healthy males, the demographic needed to purchase health insurance to make the exchanges sustainable, has only been disincentivized by the law to purchase insurance. Furthermore, some questioned my original commentary on Obamacare abuse, stating that they didn’t believe abuse of the system is as widespread as I alluded:
A lot of them didn’t even bother to repurchase insurance; they paid the penalty because it was cheaper. If they get hurt or sick, they could THEN sign up for health insurance, because Obamacare made pricing on pre-existing conditions illegal. They figure they’ll just pay the price of a policy whenever they actually need it, not a second before.
However, those exact concerns were addressed by the NY Times, who quoted Obamacare administrator Andrew M. Slavitt:
Andrew M. Slavitt, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the administration was taking steps to ensure “a stable, sustainable marketplace” — by increasing payments to insurers for “high-cost enrollees” and by curbing any abuse of “special enrollment periods” by people who sign up for coverage after they become sick. In addition, federal officials are redoubling efforts to sign up young adults.
“The subsidies were not generous enough. The penalties for not getting insurance were not stiff enough. And we don’t have enough young healthy people in the exchanges.”
Even Hillary Clinton has been forced to campaign on a similar platform of an Obamacare overhaul, and has stated as much during the debates, while Donald Trump countered with a platform of “repeal and replace”. Minnesota’s Democratic governor has come out railing the health law as “no longer affordable”, and next year, a large percentage of Obamacare consumers will only have one available choice in the public exchanges. I live in constant fear of my health plan being cancelled, and under no circumstance will I buy a policy in the exchange which is more than ever liable to be rolled down by the insurer.
And yet, the worst part of the law came from the recent Podesta email leaks. It appears that both the Obama administration and a potential future Clinton administration used their position of authority to influence the Supreme Court decisions on the law, notably the opinions of Chief Justice John Roberts. Below is an excerpt:
For Obamacare, the hits just seem to keep on coming. It is difficult to see the law as a success, yet there are plenty who just want to expand upon its already monumental failure, and continue laying off the price tag on the taxpayer. This total lack of awareness on the budget is precisely why the nation is currently facing an ever-increasing debt calamity, and it seems no one running the country has any interest in doing anything but more of the same.
It would be funny… if it weren’t so sad.
Healthcare in America is a broken system that will bankrupt government and individuals unless the ripoffs, cost shifting and unrestricted access are stopped. The current system is gamed, manipulated and turns even honest people into deadbeats and criminals.
Obamacare, was a huge victory for health insurers, their complaints notwithstanding. It has allowed them to shift the first few thousands of dollars of medical costs, each and every year, onto the ‘insured’. This will cause many to delay or avoid seeking treatment once they realize they really have no insurance at all. How many people would take their auto to be repaired after a fender bender if their deductible was $5000 or more?
Hospitals are already overflowing with parasites feeding on the healthcare system such as 2nd rate ‘Doctors’ roaming the corridors with the title of ‘hospitalist’ walking into patient’s rooms with a stethoscope saying ‘hi’ and then leaving you or your insurer with a bill for several hundred dollars. The proliferation of service providers and how medical bills are processed requires and army of clerical workers that is an open invitation to fraudulent billing. Go to the hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi and you’ll get bills from companies you’ve never heard of located in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Remember you are sick and often in pain which is why you went to the hospital in the first place. You are in no position to wade through a mailbox stuffed with bills for services you have no idea were provided or not.
The American people need to demand a total overhaul of our healthcare system. It will probably mean some people will only get palliative care but there is no way we can pay $100,000 or more per year to keep people with no chance of regaining their health again alive.
Ya’, more and stricter death panels.
And an absolute cutoff age, say maybe 55, for anything beyond routine care.
Except, of course, for the ruling class who are too valuable to let die if they can be kept alive no matter the cost.
And illegals and Muslims, it would be racist to deny them the best of everything.
Anyone know the actual percentage of healthcare spending that actually goes for the direct medical care of patients?
Actual medical cost has been pegged at about 20% of medical billing by some very reliable sources. Market Ticker has a lot on this.
Here it comes. Single payer, it is what they planned all along.