More Stupid Government Tricks

President Obama has promised to make health insurance affordable, comprehensive and available to everyone to everyone. A hallmark of his proposal is to eliminate the unfair practice of denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.

All this sounds great but it appears Toto is pulling back the curtain to reveal the Wizard pulling levers is in reality an Emperor without clothes.

Two months ago camera's were rolling while the Obama administration and the health insurance industry were all smiling, holding hands and singing Kum-Ba-Ya.

As an "insider", I knew this was not the sheep lying down with the lion. It was only a matter of how long it would take before the real truth came out.

U.S. News finally put the pieces together, giving a broader view of the hidden traps in HR 3200, AKA Obamacare.

Here are some details their reporters sniffed out.

reform narrows—to tight government specifications—rather than expands health insurance choices for virtually all individuals. Or that reform will not save money but take a trillion or more of taxpayer dollars, not counting patients' own new spending.

This is not earth shattering in itself. Rather, it was quite obvious to anyone who took the time to read the bill. Something our Congressmen don't do . . .

Every time government gets involved, at the state or federal level, insurance becomes MORE expensive, not less. No reason to believe this would be any different.

The same people who thought it was a great idea to make mortgage loans available to everyone and paved the way for creative financing now believe they can do the same with health insurance.

Cover everyone for everything and do it for less money.

That just flies in the face of logic.

Yet the public and media bought into this hook, line and sinker.

Insurers agreed months ago to clean up at least some of their hated practices, such as denying insurance for prior illnesses and canceling coverage when someone gets sick. In return, they stand to get some colossal plums: a mandate not only that every American buy health insurance but that the mandated insurance be "comprehensive," another word for expensive.

The article goes on to say the really attractive part is they get to pick up young, usually healthy people who rarely file claims.

Sounds good but it really misses the mark.

They overlook the fact that covering any and all pre-existing conditions comes with a hefty price tag. Think double premiums, and that is just a start.

They also butcher community rating as called for by HR 3200 by saying young people will be penalized because their premium can be no less than half an OLDER person in the same plan.

Nope.

The bill actually says the highest rate can be no more than 2x the lowest rate for people in your community that are of the same age.

So they do miss the mark, big time, on some of the pricing issues but make a small comeback with this bit of information.

One top insurance executive recently told me that he's not worried; insurance companies will make money from health reform whatever happens. After all, they already make good money, even on cash-strapped Medicaid, he told me. Maybe that's why insurers seem to wink at the barrage of criticism politicians are serving up as red meat to the voters. They tacitly support health reform and are eager to count the swelling ranks of indentured beneficiaries who will be subject to their escalating premiums, bureaucratic hassles, and denials of care.

The government does not pay claims for Medicare & Medicaid. Rather, they contract with insurance carriers to do the work.

Unless you are covered by Medicare or Medicaid, you probably didn't know that.

While US News exposes some things, they truly miss the mark on others. The bottom line on health care/insurance reform in it's current form will do nothing to make health insurance more affordable. In fact, the mandated benefits along with guaranteed issue (prohibited from underwriting & denying coverage for pre-existing medical conditions) and community rating will make health insurance premiums seem more like mortgage payments.

States have already tried this tactic and failed miserably. Most notably is New Hampshire which tried and failed to impose guaranteed issue health insurance. (Watch for an upcoming report).

If you like your current health insurance plan, under Obamacare you will not be able to keep it in spite of what you have heard. If you ever make a change in your existing health insurance plan you will have to replace it with a new, much more expensive Obamaplan as dictated by HR 3200.

The biggest impact on premiums will occur in the individual health insurance market, but employer plans will have to comply as well. High deductible plans are prohibited under Obamacare and in some cases you can only buy plans with no deductible and no coinsurance.

Can you say pricey?

Smaller cars, much bigger health insurance, Poppa Washington.