Much has been said about Obamacare, both pro and (mostly) con, but few have managed to so eloquently and succinctly sum up the impact of Obamacrap. Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute does his best to separate substance from hype in this article which is posted at the Orange County Register.
Obamacare was conceived around three goals: 1) providing health insurance coverage for all Americans, 2) reducing insurance costs for individuals, businesses and government, and 3) increasing the quality of health care and the value received for each dollar of health care spending.
Just over 100 days after the law was signed, the evidence shows it is failing on each and every one of those goals.
Tanner nails it right there, and then goes on to offer supporting commentary.
Remember "if you like your plan you can keep it"? Not so.
How about extending health insurance to everyone? Close, but no cigar.
nearly half of the newly insured coming through the troubled Medicaid program. Thus, how much the law expands access to private insurance is still an open question. And still, at least 21 million Americans will still be uninsured by 2019.
Forcing 16 million or so on to Medicaid rolls hardly took a trillion dollar, 2300 page document. That could have been done almost with the stroke of a pen on a 10 page document.
Funding the expansion is another issue, but Obamacrap really doesn't solve that problem either.
The law also makes some modest insurance reforms that will prohibit some of the industry's more unpopular practices. However, those changes will come at the price of increased insurance costs, especially for younger and healthier individuals, and reduced consumer choice.
Oh yes. Those mean old health insurance companies will no longer be able to turn people down because of a pre-existing medical condition.
And the crowd all roared.
Now the bad news.
The cost of health insurance will rise dramatically for everyone, at least doubling the premiums by 2014 over present levels. How is this helping, especially in a recession where people are losing their homes due to lack of jobs and income?
Obamacrap takes a workable, but not perfect, system and makes it a product only the wealthy can afford.
Meanwhile, the legislation is a disaster when it comes to controlling costs. The administration's own chief health care actuary reports that the law will actually increase U.S. health care spending. Accurately measured, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will cost more than $2.7 trillion over its first 10 years of full operation. This does not even include more than $4.3 trillion in costs shifted to businesses, individuals and state governments.
Even Snooki could figure out something is wrong. These figures make the folks in DC look like Dumb and Dumber.
This promise was not part of the Obamacrap legislation but it was a selling point repeated over and over again to the public. "If you like your plan you can keep it."
Tanner pulls back the curtain on this pledge.
It is also becoming increasingly clear that millions of Americans will not be able to keep their current coverage. Seniors with Medicare Advantage and workers with health savings accounts are the most likely to be forced out of their current plans. A leaked administration memorandum warns that more than two-thirds of companies could be forced to change their current coverage. For small businesses, the total could reach 80 percent.
So what is the bottom line?
If you are not insured now good chance you will go on Medicaid and take your chances of finding a doctor willing to accept you as a new patient. If you are insured and like your plan you probably won't be able to keep it. Even if you don't like your plan you probably won't be able to afford it much longer.
How is this hype and change working for you?
Posts
