Over the last year we have heard all kinds of interesting propaganda from the progressives in Washington DC about socialist style health-care. We have been bombarded daily with rhetoric and bumper sticker slogans that sound good and are regurgitated like a cows cud from the former journalists at the major news networks that now act as nothing more than propagandists for the now co-opted democrat party.
Why do I say co-opted? The simple answer is that the democrat party which at one time cared about this country has been taken over by progressives. These progressives (including President Obama) have now, using rhetoric, bribery, and intimidation gotten nationalized health-care passed. But is it really what they claim it to be? Will it in fact cut the deficit? And is it all roses like the progressives want you to believe?
Let’s start by taking a look at the timetable. You have undoubtedly heard on the “news” that this will insure an additional 32 million Americans. Saving an estimated 44,789 lives per year. These deaths are supposedly linked to lack of health insurance. The truth is that this does not go into effect for the poor or those that they say need it until 2014 which means that those 44,789 people per year will still die which equals 179,156 or 123 people per day that will die from a continued lack of health insurance. However, this number could be a lot less, but because I am using their numbers, and they lie and say that the poor do not have access to health-care. The reality is that the poor and illegal immigrants do have access to health care. It is illegal for a hospital to turn away anyone for lack of ability to pay.
According to the Speaker of the House (thanks to Botox, her face hasn’t moved in almost a decade), The Congressional Budget Office, and the Kaiser Family Foundation, here is the progression of implementation for this 2700 page monstrosity.
Within the first year after the bill passes, it will provide a $250 rebate to Medicare prescription drug plan beneficiaries whose initial benefits run out. Let’s not forget that a growing number of pharmacies and physicians are refusing to take new medicare and medicaid prescriptions and patients because the government does not reimburse these entities enough to even cover their costs in many cases.
Looking 90 days down the road, immediate access to high-risk pools for people who have no insurance because of preexisting conditions kicks in. You may have heard the term “High Risk Pool” before, but what is a high risk pool. According to the National Association of Health Underwriters a high-risk pool serves as the guaranteed-issue purchasing option for individuals who wish to exercise federal group-to-individual insurance portability rights. High-risk pools are also available in many states as a purchasing option for individuals who are eligible for the 65 percent federal health insurance tax credit provided by the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2002.
Six months after this bill is rammed down the throat of the American People it will bar insurers from denying people coverage when they get sick. It also bars insurers from denying coverage to children who have preexisting conditions. Another thing is that it removes the ability of health insurers to impose lifetime caps on coverage, and requires insurers to allow all people to stay on their parents health policy until the age of 26.
In 2011 it will require individual and small group market insurance plans to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on medical services. Large group plans would have to spend at least 85 percent.
In 2013 it will increase the Medicare payroll tax and expands it to dividend, interest and other unearned income for singles earning more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $250,000. (side note that is gross pay not take home pay.)
In 2014 it will provide subsidies for families earning up to 400 percent of the poverty level. Or, under current guidelines, about $88,000 a year to purchase health insurance. It also requires most employers to provide coverage or face penalties. Also, it requires most people to obtain coverage or face penalties of up to $750 dollars or 2% of total gross household income per year.
In 2018 it will imposes a 40 percent excise tax on high-end insurance policies. In other words if you or your employer pay for the high tier insurance plans you or your employer will have to pay 40% more for the privilege of being able to afford not needing substandard government health-care.
And finally in 2019 it will expand health insurance coverage to 32 million people. But wait they were touting that there were 45 million Americans without health coverage during their pushes to get this passed. I guess to them the other 13 million people are an expendable overage.
Is this really what this country needs? Now let’s look at some facts that they conveniently neglected to tell us about or forgot to tell us about while they were pumping this and calling anyone who disagreed with it a racist or un-American.
First they claim that this bill will cost less than 1 Trillion dollars. But will it? No. using Enron style accounting and tricky budget gimmicks, health-care supporters have been trying to convince you that the cost of this bill is less than a Trillion dollars. However this is not true. These estimates leave out such things as the costly but inevitable “doc fix” and buries deep a new long-term-care entitlement. This whole thing is based on benefits not taking effect until 2014, even though taxes begin immediately. The true 10-year cost of this bill is at a minimum $2.5 trillion.
They also left out of the final numbers for all the wonderful bribes I mean kickbacks, oh sorry I mean “congressional district enhancement funds” for votes. The Senate bill still had the aptly named “Cornhusker Kickback” which was removed March 15 prior to the vote. It also contains the “Louisiana Purchase.” which gives extra Medicaid funding to any state in which every county has been declared a disaster area. This was originally done to buy the vote of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) but when enough people complained it was expanded to any state that meets the same criteria as Louisiana. which would be roughly 5 states. The President promises to fix these in reconciliation but we shall see if he does or if more members of congress get even more sweetheart bribes, I mean kickbacks sorry there I go again I mean “Congressional district enhancement funds” to continue to go along with it.
Finally, probably one of the most contested parts of the bill. The public option. The Senate bill which is what the house voted on and passed, authorizes the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) which is a federal agency that oversees the civil service to create government-sponsored health plans that would “compete” against private health insurance plans. These government health plans would have their premiums, profit margins, and benefit decided on and set by OPM. This potentially could create a lop sided market that favors government health plans to private insurance. Ultimately driving private insurers out of business leaving only the government death-care option. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of people who work in the insurance industry that would loose their jobs if that were to happen.
One problem with this is that insurance companies have to make pay roll and other overhead costs out of the profits received from premiums where as the government does not have to nor care if it makes a profit because it will just print more money (which devalues the dollar) or increase the tax burden on everyone to pay for it. This means that the taxpayers could be held to pay for any shortfalls that the government plan incurs. If you don’t think that that happens just look at Amtrak, The United States Postal Service, General Motors. All of whom loose 10’s of millions if not billions of dollars a year but you the tax payer keep supporting these loosing efforts of government.
As proof GM or Government Motors got $52 billion dollars in bailout cash which means the government owns a 62 percent controlling stake in the company, just released that it now has a $4.5 billion dollar profit loss. Whereas Ford Motor Company which did not take any Government money,(which means the government did not get a say in how it was run) has now gone into the black and has instituted profit sharing among its hourly employees. Who would you rather work for?
The bottom line is they have been lying to the American people from the beginning. They say it is bi-partisan but the Republicans were not allowed into the sessions where the bill was penned. And now that it has passed the House and is going to reconciliation, Harry Reed the senate majority leader stated that they will defeat all amendments put forth by the Republicans. So guess what? This bill and all changes to it, and damage caused by it are now and have been solely done by the Democrat / Progressive party. And we the American people need to hold those peoples feet to the fire to make sure that what is ultimately done is in the best interest of the people and not the best interest of the elected officials.
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