The Speech: Evaluation of ObamaCare

Last night Obama tried to regain the initiative on health care. Whether or not this works remains to be seen. One thing is for sure though, he was stingy with the truth. Let’s take a detailed look at what he said.

The Public Option

It should come as no shock that Obama wants a public option. He claims that having a public option will “keep insurance companies honest,” although he also proposes other regulations that he claims will fix the problems with insurance companies. But if those regulations fix the problems with the insurance companies, why would we still need a public option?

The public option will compete against private insurers in an insurance exchange that Obama proposes to set up in four years. Why we need to wait four years is not clear, though that does conveniently delay this plan until after his re-election. I guess we wouldn’t want voters distracted by their private insurers going out of business just before the election. . . that might keep them from focusing on "the issues."

But don’t fret, Obama assures us that this health exchange will be welcomed by private insurers because “insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lets them compete for millions of new customers”. . . that they can already compete for now, but don’t. Incentive, you use that word Mr. President, but I don’t think it means what you think it means.

Obama also tries to calm our fears by pointing out that “less than 5% of Americans would sign up.” Though how he comes up with that number is not known. Indeed, 16% of Americans are currently uninsured. So are the other 11% just fakers? And if we’re only worried about 5%, then why upset the other 95%? Why not create a new Medicaid Part F for those 5%? Wasn’t it Obama himself who began his speech by saying,

“Since health care represents one-sixth of our economy, I believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't, rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch.”

I guess that was just hollow rhetoric?

In any event, insurers should not fear the new public option, Obama tells us, because it won’t be subsidized:

“I have insisted that like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects.”

How exactly is that going to work dumbass. .. er, sorry, Mr. President? These people, according to you, are too poor to afford insurance (and many of them have hugely expensive uninsurable conditions)? So how are you going get them “affordable” insurance without subsidizing their care? And if you can work that magic trick, why can’t you do the same for Medicaid? Has Medicaid done something wrong? Has it offended you oh Great and Powerful Lord?

But wait, he has an answer for how the public insurance option will be so cheap:

“By avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits, excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers.”

Really? Profits at private insurance companies are estimated between 3% and 8%, that’s hardly abusive. And profits aren't considered overhead. . . unless you're a communist. Moreover, in terms of overhead, there is nothing more bogged down by overhead, waste, fraud and abuse than government. Private insurance costs on average $4,700 per person in this country. Government insurance (Medicare/Medicaid) costs $11,093. So I’m going to call a big old steaming pile of Pelosi on that one bub.

You Will Be Forced To Have Insurance

Yes, Virginia, there is an evil Santa Claus and he will force to you buy insurance. He hasn’t told you how much it will cost yet, but I assure you it will be more than you can afford:

“That's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. Likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers.”

And do you know why we need this? Because right now “those of us with health insurance are also paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it — about $1000 per year that pays for somebody else's emergency room and charitable care.”

Actually, the figure for uninsured reimbursement is $35 billion a year. Spread over 300 million Americans that works out to $116 each, not $1,000. That's about 30 cents a day each. Personally, I’d rather pay the $116 than force everyone to buy insurance every year, but I’m crazy like that.

In any event, don't fear that you won’t be able to afford being forced to buy insurance. If you truly can’t afford it, you won’t be required to have it:

“There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still cannot afford coverage, and 95 percent of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements.”

But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of this whole thing? Now you’re saying that the very people this program is designed to reach will be given an exemption from the plan, so that they don’t have to buy insurance. . . leaving them uninsured. WTF? Tell me again why we’re remaking one sixth of our economy? And how does that save me my $116?

Let’s Fact Check Obama’s “Facts”

Obama also gave us a series of facts last night, about which he stated: “These are the facts. Nobody disputes them.” Let’s dispute them. . .

Obama: “There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false — the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

Reality: Believe it not, this is actually kind of true, in a deceptive sort of way. This bill provides that no illegal aliens may participate in the programs set up under this bill. BUT, it does not stop them from continuing to do what they do now -- getting free health care in emergency rooms. The taxpayer will continue to pick up that tab, just not under this particular plan.


Obama: “There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage.”

Reality: I could have sworn the propaganda number was 46 million Americans? In any event, you and I know from our prior articles that the real number is only 7.3 million.


Obama: “In just a two year period, one in every three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point. And every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage.”

Reality: Now I can’t verify this number, no one can because it’s made up. But if you think about it. One in three Americans means 100 million people. Doesn’t that seem a little higher than the 30/46 million figure they keep bandying about? And what’s the 14,000 every day? That works out to a total 5.1 million a year. How does that get to 100 million every two years? Looks like you’re 95 million short dumba. . . Mr. President.


Obama: “Not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will be used to pay for this plan.”

Reality: Oh, how to refute this one? How about a quote from the same speech Obama gave last night: “Reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid will pay for most of this plan.”


Obama: “Don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut. That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare. The only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud.”

Reality: Obama is talking about cutting payment to Medicare providers by $500 billion -- $50 billion a year. He claims this can be found in waste, fraud and abuse. However, the HHS Office of Inspector General, which pursues these matters, has recovered only an average of $1.2 billion per year. And all of the experts agree that this will lead to significant cuts in benefits.


Obama: “Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because. . .”

Reality: Huh? Bush left Obama a deficit of $700 billion, too much to be sure, but Obama added $1 trillion to that. So drop the crap about facing a trillion dollar deficit when you walked in the door you lying sack of . . .


Obama: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — either now or in the future. Period. And to prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize.”

Reality: Actually, no. To make this claim work, the Democrats have designated most of the costs as being “off budget.” They thus don’t count toward the deficit, even as they explode the deficit. This is a self-deceptive tactic used by diet-breakers, crack addicts, and Congresses.

Moreover, when you consider all the costs, something else becomes clear quite quickly: Obama’s numbers make no sense. Obama claims the cost of his plan will be $900 billion. To pay for this, he claims to have found “savings within the existing health care system — a system that is currently full of waste and abuse. . . That's not my judgment — it's the judgment of medical professionals across this country.”

Oh, well if medical professional say it, then it must be true. Let’s see $900 billion in waste, fraud and abuse. About as much is spent each year on private health care as government health care. Thus, assuming waste, fraud and abuse exists, there is no reason to think it will be more than another billion a year (the same as in the government half). That leave Obama $890 billion short.

And of course, you shouldn’t believe the $900 billion figure either. The current House plan is estimated to cost $1.6 trillion, and even that was wildly optimistic.

But never fear, Obama’s not just relying on waste, fraud and abuse, he’s going to require preventative care like mammograms and colonoscopies which he claims “makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives.” However, studies have shown that most preventive care -- particularly tests like the ones Obama mentions -- actually cost more money than they save.

According to the pesky Congressional Budget Office, “The evidence suggests that for most preventive services, expanded utilization leads to higher, not lower, medical spending overall.” Moreover, kill-joy CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf concluded in July that “we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount.” That’s tech speak for “not going to save you a penny Barry.”

Oh, almost forgot, Obama does propose to form committees to examine the possibility of considering whether or not it might be worth examining the possibility of thinking about tort reform of some kind in some small places: “It's a good idea, and I am directing my Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative today.” Of course, as these are matters of state law, this claim is entirely fallacious. But hey, it sounded kind of ok.


Obama: “Nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have.”

Reality: That’s absolutely true. And for those of you who have read my article on short term thinking, you will understand why liberals will believe this. But what ObamaCare does not do, is guarantee that your insurer will continue to offer the plan you have or that your employer will continue to carry it. The Democrats have estimated that three million people will lose their employer based insurance if this plan passes. I’m thinking they forgot to carry a one somewhere. The fine will be around 8% of salary, and the average private insurance costs around $4,700 right now. Thus, it will make sense for employers to drop their coverage for anyone earning less than $58,750 per year.

According to the Census Bureau 61% of households earn less than that. At a minimum, that’s 183 million people. Only 3 million huh?


Obama: And one final point, Obama stated, "When I spoke here last winter. . . we were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month. . . but thanks to the bold and decisive action we have taken since January, I can stand here with confidence and say that we have pulled this economy back from the brink."

Reality: That number is indeed down. We are currently losing 550,000 jobs per month.


It was a pretty speech though. . .