Evil Insurance Will Get $336 Billion From Obamacare
Mar 9, 2010 Political
In order to cover most people with insurance, including those with preexisting conditions, the government will try to impose an unconstitutional law forcing everyone to purchase insurance. The only way for those evil insurance companies to make money insuring everyone no matter what, is to force everyone to buy insurance. This will place millions of young, healthy people in the mix paying more so that everyone can be covered.
But to help the poor purchase insurance the government will kick in $336 billion which will go right to the very evil insurance companies that Obama complains about.
To help pay for the new insurance requirements the government would give to people money to buy insurance – $336 billion over the next ten years. That money, ultimately, would have to go to… drum roll… insurance companies. ABC
Complaining that insurance companies are evil and make too much money and then paying them to insure people makes as much sense as spending money when you are broke in order to fix the economy.
The real evil here is the government. It will take away our right to choose (where have we heard that) and force us to buy health care insurance. Funny how the right to choose when it is abortion is sacrosanct but having the right to choose whether to buy insurance or not is not.
For all the money they want to spend to takeover our health care they could just buy policies for those who are uninsured and save billions upon billions.
Only in America can a politician deride a business while giving it money.
And while taking its money as well…
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: corruption. health care takeover, insurance, lies, Obama, tax dollars
Obama Has A Proposal
Feb 22, 2010 Political
Barack Obama will unveil his additions to the health care takeover plan he hopes to ram through before the next election. The New York Times reports:
President Obama will propose on Monday giving the federal government new power to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies, as he rolls out comprehensive legislation to revamp the nation’s health care system, White House officials said.
This is an interesting concept that involves more government involvement in private industry so we need to add something to the plan.
The insurance companies have to be given power to block excessive tax increases by the US government.
Turn about is fair play and it seems that if government is going to regulate private business then it is only fair to have private business regulate government.
You see, the government does not like the idea of insurance companies raising rates to cover costs but has no problem raising taxes to cover its costs, many of which are unnecessary or wasteful. If we had reform that took away some of the things that cause insurance increases, many of which are the result of government rules, then the costs would go down.
Obama might be on to something. But instead of harassing insurance companies he needs to channel his energy toward government and its oppressive tax scheme.
Unfortunately he will not see this because he is interested in government involvement in all aspects of the private sector and our lives.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: insurance, Obama, regulation, taxes
We Have Ways of Making You Insured
Aug 24, 2009 Political
One provision in HR3200 that has kind of gone under the radar has been the compulsory coverage that everyone will have to have- with everyone carrying a card that identifies everyone and describes their amount of coverage. This was pushed by the insurance carriers, since approximitely one third of the people who are not covered are young people, a group that thinks it is invulnerable, or chooses to use their money for other things, like bills, and the insurance companies want their business to offset the reductions in monies they see coming down the pike.
But left nearly unexplored by angry activists was a measure of sweeping consequence that is almost guaranteed to become law if Democrats pass even a scaled-back version of health care reform: a requirement that every American carry an approved form of health insurance by 2013 or pay a penalty to the IRS.
Committees in both the House and Senate have voted in favor of the proposal, known as an individual mandate, and the Senate Finance Committee will likely support the measure when it meets again in the fall. Although President Obama opposed mandates during the 2008 campaign, he says he now supports them because of exemptions for people living near the poverty line, along with subsidies for other Americans who still can’t afford coverage.
Conservative critics contend that such a mandate would be a federal power grab exponentially larger than the concept of a public option, which will drive health care costs up under the guise of cost containment. The issue itself lies at the Republican fault lines of individual responsibility and individual freedom, pitting pro-business pragmatists against movement activists.
politicsdaily.com
Such a shame, even Republicans signing on to a governmental power play- I am very disappointed here. While it might be smart to get insurance, the LAST thing we need is an IRS with more powers to punish. In a just world, the IRS would be abolished, or at least greatly diminished, with a flat tax, but that is for another post. What concerns me now is this compulsory mandate.
Dennis Smith, of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, calls the individual mandate “an earth-shaking” issue. “My objections are the unprecedented power of the federal government over the individual,” he said. “They’re basically saying, ‘No matter what else is going on in your life, we’re here from the government and you are going to do this.’ ”
Michael Cannon, of the libertarian Cato Institute, calls the mandate “the most sweeping provision of the Obama health plan” and argues that giving the government the power to mandate coverage would effectively nationalize private health coverage. “When the government requires everybody to buy health insurance, it has the power to dictate every heath insurance policy in the country,” he said “That then gives the government power over every aspect of health insurance and every aspect of care.”
politicsdaily.com
This is seen as a sop to the insurance companies, but, yes- it would put the government squarely in your doctor’s office, as well as bank account, living room and everywhere else you would be- a tremendous blow to privacy rights. Where is the ACLU during all of this?
I guess that if Hussein does it, it can’t be bad, according to the ACLU- but I wonder about one thing.
If everyone will be required to carry a card, where are all the objections liberals had when the issue was a card for voting, or a national ID card. Isn’t this an infringement on their rights, or putting them under undue stress, or whatever the heck the argument was?
Come on- squeal like it hurts- just like you squealed about the other proposals for ID cards- we are waiting.
Because this is a real threat.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: compulsory, ID cards, insurance, privacy rights
I Vote For Never
May 29, 2009 Political
Barack Obama warned that if we do not get health care reform done by the end of the year we will not get it done. In keeping with his theme that everything is a crisis and must be done now, he told people that its now or never.
Obama wants to have government run health care along the lines of Medicare and the VA system neither of which is run efficiently. Both programs are top heavy with bureaucrats and are extremely costly. The system of reimbursement cheats physicians and has led some to opt out of accepting Medicare patients.
Given that government does not do anything efficiently or in a cost effective manner, I vote for never. The system needs to be revamped and needs less government regulation and control so the free market can allow insurance companies to be competitive. The requirements placed upon companies add unnecessary items to insurance packages and increase the cost. Additionally, people cannot compete across state lines and that too drives up the cost.
There are things that need to take place but having the government run things is not the answer.
They gave billions of dollars to Chrysler and GM which only delayed the inevitable filing of bankruptcy which left taxpayers high and dry.
We will never see that money again. With government and its slavish union followers running the companies they will surely fail. Government officials have little experience running a business and their actions are politically motivated. Look at how many dealerships where people donated to Republicans were shut down. Failing dealerships that gave lots of money to Democrats and particularly Obama are not being closed.
Business is no place for government. Health care is available for everyone. Sure, some folks will have to pay out of pocket but I am unaware of any provision in our Constitution that says I should be paying for someone else’s health care.
Everyone likes to say Obama is the answer. If Obama is the answer it must have been a stupid question.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: health care, insurance, Obama, socialism
Health Care- Really?
May 11, 2009 Political
It looks like health care reform is the next shoe to drop in Barama’s quest for total control, and the tax hikes he will have to enact will be huge, and not just on the top earners, but on down the line, as there will be such costs that the amount will bleed down to the lower tax levels. This is inevitable, and perhaps it will come about, but it should make us pause and think- think about the past.
When you (and I) were young, we had no insurance- we sat at home, and suffered through myriad colds, sore throats, strep throat, scrapes, bruises, and many mostly minor ailments that today, if we have insurance, we go see the doctor for. In the last twelve years, I have seen the doctors more than I ever had before.
A part of this is the process of getting older and having parts go out on me- just flat wear out from thirty- odd years of hard physical labor, and a part of this was unexpectedly surgical. But about two years ago, I said, “enough!”- I had had cancer surgery, and was clear, and the insurance companies had a deal where you (and I) had to be free of cancer for five years before they would think of insuring us again. After the five years had passed, I applied again, but was told that now the rule was ten years. When ten years had passed, I found that they would cover me, except for cancer, and the cost was way too high for basically no coverage. Enough!
So, in a funk, I began to think back to my youth and my family’s past. My father was not poor- not rich, but not poor. Still, we had life insurance, property insurance, and auto insurance, but we did not have health insurance. Doctor’s visits were considerably cheaper than they are now, and there was an x- ray machine in the office, and the doctor knew how to read said x-ray, all for no additional charge. I know this because I was in construction, and had to be x-rayed for fractures once. The total costs for that visit- $60.
Now, if you go to a doctor, you pay that doc, then get referred to a radiology clinic, where you pay another charge to the clinic for the use of the facility. Then you get at least one bill from any doctor who happened to walk by your x-ray and felt like they should be paid. Then you have to go back to the first doctor, so he can tell you what the x-ray tech said about the x-ray. Now, I don’t know about you, but that is about three steps too many, and at least two too many hands out for your (my) money.
This isn’t streamlining anything, or cutting costs, and a lot of this is the fault of the insurance industry, but let’s not omit the Physicians and their education, or lack thereof.
The insurance industry routinely pays half of what a physician or clinic or hospital charges- they “settle” for half, and the various healthcare industries have learned to charge twice what the visit is worth, which is truly tough on those who have no insurance. Yes, there are some doctors who know this, and when you say you are “self paying”, they drop the amount of charges, in order to accommodate the lack of insurance. Other clinics will charge an uninsured person outrageously. They just do not care.
The fact that there is a two tier system, where doctors charge a real price and an inflated price, means trouble in River City- there should never be a two tier system. The insurance companies are getting soaked by high prices, and they are allowing this. When you add the unnecessary trips- the colds, the minor coughs, the muscle sprains and aches that only time will heal- that add to the insurance costs, well, its only logical that sooner or later we would have a problem with the cost of insurance. The more you use something, the more it will cost.
When you have auto insurance, you do not take your car in for a minor scratch, you either repair it yourself, or you live with it,because that scratch does not impact the use of your car. The same could, and should be said of minor ailments. We are overusing the health insurance option here, and then we wonder at the price.
Some of us need insurance, some need it less, and some need hardly any at all. I went without insurance for thirty years at least, because I was young, I was healthy, and my immune system was something else- I had no colds, no coughs, no really bad infections during that time. I was fortunate, to be sure, but this is true by and large, for most young people, and that’s the way it should be. With the exception of dental insurance, young people need less insurance as a general rule than others.
The fact remains though, that in general, we, as a people are overusing the insurance option, and we need to learn to use it less. Perhaps then, the companies could charge us less, especially if the hospitals would charge real world prices, and the doctors could learn to read x-rays themselves, and cut out the middleman.
By the way, Doctors can score a C- on their finals, and still hold your life in their hands- and they get mad when I ask them what their final grade was- I guess I have no bedside manner.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: double-billing, healthcare, insurance