O-heads will be spending the month of August reeducating you on the merits of Dear Leader's hostile takeover of the health care industry. They need you to believe that government-run health care is a sweet deal. We'll go through some of their asinine points.
Americans say: "I'm happy with what I have."
O-heads respond: Most Americans with health insurance are happy with the level of service and care they receive, and we don't want to change that.
Reality: Obama might not WANT to increase dissatisfaction with health care in America, but ObamaCare will have plenty of "unintended" consequences. For example: 56% of Americans with employer-based coverage would lose their current insurance, shifting 88.1 million people out of their current employer-based plan.
Common Sense: "Tax payers shouldn't be forced to provide health insurance for illegal immigrants."
O-heads respond: There are restrictions on benefits for those "who are not lawfully present in the United States."
Reality: Any commitment to restrict taxpayer funds to law abiding citizens is shaky at best. Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee defeated an amendment that would have prevented illegal aliens from using the so-called “public health insurance option.” This week, the Energy and Commerce Committee recently voted 29-28 to defeat a Republican amendment to strengthen ID requirements designed to prevent illegal immigrants from getting Medicaid benefits.
Legitimate question: "Would ObamaCare make taxpayer dollars available to fund abortions?"
O-heads respond: Abortion is not mandated in any reform legislation. Current reform efforts will allow consumers to choose a plan that is provided by a company that is in line with their own moral decision about abortion. Abortion is not mandated in the reform legislation.
Reality: First, let's take a moment for a straw man alert. WE know Obama isn't forcing private insurance companies to cover abortions...yet. The question is, "How much taxpayer money will be siphoned from taxpayers to provide abortion services?" The answer is not clear, but "under the Democrats’ scheme, insurance plans would have to provide people an 'essential benefits package.' This package would be...based on recommendations from a new federal advisory committee. As the bill is written, there is nothing that could keep federal bureaucrats from mandating that coverage of abortions be included in the 'essential benefits package.'"
Concern: "The stimulus package failed, so what reason is there to believe health care reform won't fail too?"
O-heads respond: The stimulus package was meant to take effect over two years.
Reality: Obama told us the stimulus package would not allow unemployment to rise above 8%. Unemployment is at 9.5% and is on track to surpass 10%. Team Obama has admitted that they misread the economy. Is Obama more knowledgeable about health care? Does he have more experience in the health care industry?
Good point: "Democrats in congress keep trumpeting the benefits of a public option, but refuse to accept the plan for themselves and their families."
O-heads respond: Republican Senator Tom Coburn introduced a sarcastic amendment requiring members of Congress to enroll in the public option - and the Democrats passed it! We're all in this together.
Reality: House Democrats have refused to support a similar resolution. The Senate Amendment is unlikely to show up in the final health care bill. We shall see!
Concern: "It is frightening to think that the government could force you from your current health coverage plan, especially if you are satisfied with the service."
O-heads respond: The House bill allows for existing policies to be grandfathered in, so that people who currently have individual health insurance policies will not lose coverage
Reality: Under ObamaCare, your individual insurance policy is probably doomed, even if it is grandfathered. As individual policy-holders drift away into government-run insurance exchanges, insurers will likely find that they don't have a viable risk-pool in the dwindling individual market anymore.
Great idea: "Instead of offering a government-run public option, Congress should allow the purchase of insurance across state lines."
O-heads respond: Health insurance companies would relocate to those states with the laws best suited to the company's profit margin and Americans would suffer.
Reality: At first glance, allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines is not the sexiest idea, but it would revolutionize the health insurance market. Admittedly, a National Market for Health Insurance wouldn't give politicians more power, and it wouldn't do much for any special interest groups, but health care options would multiply explosively and prices would drop like a rock. A typical health-insurance policy in heavily regulated New York costs almost four times as much as in less regulated Iowa ($388 a month versus $98 a month for the same coverage). Why not give New Yorkers the opportunity to buy insurance from Iowa?
Important concern: "Government control of health care will only lead to delayed and denied care as some government bureaucrat makes arbitrary decisions about personal care."
O-heads respond flippantly: Americans' health care is already rationed, by the private health insurance industry.
Reality: Nice try O-bots! Health care resources are not unlimited, so rationing will occur on some level no matter what system we have in place. But rationing by government is far more draconian than any other form of rationing. Government rations resources on the basis of irrational political considerations rather than on rational economic considerations. Also note that if your private insurance abuses you, you can choose from 1,300 other providers in this country. If the Federal Government abuses you what are you gonna do? Go to Mexico?
Concern: "The government option is the first step towards a single-payer (government-run) system like Canada and Great Britain."
O-heads respond; Neither of those systems is being used as a model to reform American health care. Our solution will be uniquely American and will ensure the continuation of the private health insurance industry, preserving American choice and entrepreneurship.
Reality: 1. Platitudes make me vomit. 2. Barney Frank (D) says the public "option" is best way to reach single payer (government-run) health care.
Americans say: "I don't want some faceless Washington bureaucrat making health care decisions for me and my family."
O-heads respond: Insurance companies have bureaucrats.
Reality: There are 1,300 competing providers of health insurance. There is one Federal Government. Whose bureaucrats should we fear most?
Americans say: "We don't need more government bureaucracy that will turn a visit to the doctor's office into a visit to the DMV."
O-heads respond: If you get sick, insurance companies will find any simple mistake on your application in order to rescind your coverage. With increased government involvement in the health insurance delivery system, these things just won't happen.
Reality: You MUST be kidding.
6 comments:
Good post. Obamacare is a scary thing that must be stopped.
cube: We can do it if we successfully beat back the misinformation coming from the left.
Americans say: "I don't want some faceless Washington bureaucrat making health care decisions for me and my family."..amen bro!
the whole thing is one vast influence peddling scam.
Where’s the fire Prez-O?
I know I’ve seen this reference on another blog, but Obama really does remind me of Chicken Little hollering about the falling sky. And his convoluted over-priced health care plan can save us.
Yah right!
Thankfully some members of congress are beginning to push back on our spending-spree president.
Campaigning once again, Obama has been stumping heavily for his health care plan. Uh huh. The same plan that he had no answers for when specific questions about it were put to him. To further his campaign for this plan, he will air a television special tonight.
Umm…. who’s paying for all these television specials? Isn’t this the fourth one in just six months? Last I checked the country was in an economic downturn!!
His over-eagerness to have his health care plan approved is peculiar, I’d say. Maybe if he’d spent time actually doing his job when he was a senator, instead of writing books, he would be bearing in mind the legislature’s schedule. As they do every year, the legislature will break in August.
Ah! My bad! He IS keeping their schedule in mind. Liar liar, trickster trickster.
Looks like Prez-O’s gonna have to wait. Uh oh! That means the Congress members and their staff will actually have time to read and interpret the flaws and expense that I’m sure floods this bloviated healthcare document.
RV: A scam of colossal proportions
seenthelight: Obamacare is failing more miserably than I could have imagined. I am quite pleased that we will have the month of August to pressure our elected officials to actually READ the bill.
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