“We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it” – Nancy Pelosi
The White House claimed, incredibly, that most Americans support ObamaCare.
“If you take the last 12 independent polls, and you throw out four by Rasmussen, whose results the White House doesn’t like, and you throw out six others that show a wide margin of opposition, then you have two polls with results consistent with the Washington Post poll showing a fairly small margin of opposition to the Democrats’ national health care plan. And that is Benenson’s case. By the way, the headline of his article? “Most Americans want health care reform.” – Byron York, National Examiner
Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, gushed on Fox News last night, about how ObamaCare was good for Pennsylvania. Why? Well, he said, today Pennsylvania is only reimbursed 50% for Medicare while under ObamaCare Pennsylvania will be reimbursed 90%. Very cool. Er, who’s picking up the tab for that extra 40%? That question goes to the heart of the Liberal/Progressive movement which is basically you are too damn stupid to recognize a shell game when you see one.
Unless the plan is to have ObamaCare paid for with the profits from GM and Chrysler, the only thing the government does for a profit, it is all a giant shell game. The giddy governor of Pennsylvania knows that this is a shell game and that extra 40% will either come out of Pennsylvanians federal tax pocket instead of their state tax pocket or it will be subsidized by citizens in other states through their taxes. Oh wait, no, there is always those evil drug and medical device companies to tax. But where do they get their money? That’s right taxes are built into the price of their products, so expect drugs and medical devices to cost more.
The Evil Health Insurance Company Myth
Obama & Co. jumped all over a 39% premium increase by Anthem Blue Cross in California as Exhibit A justifying their takeover of the health care industry. This is not going to be fixed with ObamaCare but only made worse. An example is given by a doctor who says for the last seven years he has been reimbursed $50 for an office visit under Medicare. In that time his expenses have risen 30%. (Quick check — if the good doctor gives his staff a 4% raise each year for 7 years that comes out, compounded, to about 30%). Under ObamaCare they are proposing a 21% reduction in Medicare reimbursement, so the doctor will now get a $40 reimbursement for an office visit. The doctor can do one of two things. He can stop seeing Medicare patients, or he can charge his other patients more to make up the difference. If he chooses the latter course of action, then private insurance companies, like Anthem, will have to pay for the increase. How do they recover their costs? That’s right by increasing premiums.
Just like you never hear statists blaming government polices of HUD, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac for the housing bubble that triggered the financial crisis and recession (it was all those greedy, evil bankers), you won’t hear them mention their policies regarding Medicare as triggering the premium increases. It was all about greed. So government will need to step in and make sure those greedy insurance companies cannot increase prices like they have. So expenses rise, premiums are capped, insurance companies fold, and voila you have a public option, which becomes the only option. Next to keep expenses from rising, health care will have to be rationed because there are no market mechanisms in ObamaCare to actually reduce costs. No tort reform. No elimination of 3rd party payers. No true insurance that protects against catastrophic costs while you pay for the routine, like all other insurance. Just government fiat. Obama can no more order health care costs to decline than he can turn off gravity.
News flash to people around the world living under socialized medicine who travel to the United States for critical care when they need it, that door will soon be closed.
Who Is Really Stupid?
Statists believe the average American is too stupid to make decisions, or should I say the right decisions, about their lives, health, safety, etc. We need the really, really smart people in government to tell us what is good for us and follow their instructions. Or…in November we can send them the message that they were really, really stupid to ignore what the American people were screaming at them, STOP!!!! If Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Adams, Hamilton, et al, thought Americans were smart enough to look out for their own best interests, who are Pelosi, Reid, Waxman, Boxer, Rangel, Schumer, Dodd, et al, to say otherwise?
