As I’ve pointed out before, the Democrats are going to have a hard time selling ObamaCare to the masses. Nothing about ObamaCare makes any sense, and each of the promises they made to entice people was false. Our vaunted media is now figuring this out. As usual, they are fifty days late and two trillion dollars short.
I previously discussed (HERE) how almost immediately after Obama signed the ObamaCare bill, companies began recording losses on their balance sheets, laying off their workers, and cutting their benefits, despite Obama’s assurances this would never happen.
A few days later, the first articles appeared talking about the shock received by ObamaCare supporters when they called private insurance companies and asked how to sign up for their free ObamaCare. According to various insurers, they’ve been fielding thousands of these calls, and none of Obama’s supporters are hearing what they expected. Indeed, rather than being enrolled in their new free care, they are finding out that there is no such thing, and that there won’t be. And they are learning that no matter what David Axelrod may be telling people in interviews, none of the benefits kick in until 2014 or later. People with pre-existing conditions also are finding themselves dismayed to learn that they don’t get covered until 2014, and even then, there are no price controls on what they can be charged.
But then, how could anyone have know this. . . it's not like it was in a bill for the world to see. Interestingly, these articles actually blame the Republicans for this problem because evil Republicans apparently lied. . . spreading lies like ObamaCare providing “universal coverage” and that the benefits kick in immediately. That’s right, the evil Republicans unfairly raised expectations by trying to make the bill sound better than it really is. Yeah, you read that right.
Now the L.A. Times has learned, much to its chagrin, that there are no mechanisms in ObamaCare that allow the government to set the rates that insurers can charge! Sacre bleu! Dianne Feinstein even calls this: “a very big loophole in health reform” and she wants to pass new legislation to give the government such powers. Good luck.
Seriously, how stupid do you have to be not to have noticed that the bill doesn’t allow the government to impose price controls? The bill was right there, ready to be read. And on this issue in particular, Obama himself proposed adding it to the bill, but the Democrats couldn’t do it without having to get the Senate to vote on it again, so they didn't. This was big news. There is no way Feinstein and the Times missed it.
In reality, I don’t think Feinstein is that stupid. She knew full well that there was nothing in the bill that allowed the government to control premiums, she’s just playing along now that the cat is out of the bag. To borrow from Casablanca, she’s “shocked! Shocked! That this isn’t in the bill.”
The L.A. Times, though, is being stupid. They genuinely didn’t have a clue that ObamaCare didn’t give the government this power. They took the word of the Democrats at face value and never assigned anyone to read the bill. Heck, it’s likely they don’t even have anyone on staff would could read the bill. And now they’re weeping into their printers ink that evil health insurance providers could impose massive premium hikes. They’re particularly terrified that such hikes could drive people to oppose ObamaCare. . . . hmmm, maybe they aren’t so stupid after all?
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
What Do You Mean My Premiums Are Going Up?
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22 comments:
If ObamaCare isn't paying my healthcare premiums, then I presume that Law Hawk will pay them out-of-pocket. Why should "I" be required to cover the expense for what is clearly something I'm entitled to receive?
I'd also like Law Hawk to take over paying for my new Mercedes E550. Why use MY money when other people's money spends so much more easily?
Don't tell me I jumped on the socialist band wagon just to find that there's no free lunch...
MY understanding from MY news sources was that the healthcare bill would not include a single payer but that it was designed to fail ( it would bankrupt private insurers with govt. regulations and - as you say- businesses would drop providing healthcare or have lay-offs or both.)
I heard tapes of the administration assuring its fellow lefties that when the initial healthcare bill imploded, it would be replaced by the Holy Grail of single payer Social Medicine.
I guess this plan can't happen fast enough for current administration as they didn't forsee the avarice of the entitled.
Andrew, maybe I'm wrong [And you say, "No, that could NEVER happen!"], but there is nothing in the bill that requires the insurance companies to pay for treatment anymore than they do now. And as you say, it does not set premium limits.
This added to the massive doctor shortage announced yesterday, it's gonna be fun to get sick.
LL, I too would like Lawhawk to pay for a new Mercedes!! LOL! I'm pretty sure he's rich -- at least I know he once had a job -- so I think it's unfair that he might have money and I don't have a Mercedes!
Seriously, I have to admit that I find it hilarious that the left is only now finding out how badly they've been lied to about ObamaCare.
CrisD, I don't think designed to fail is quite right, but it's close. I think it was designed to give them a nose under the tent that no-one would object to, and it had features that would not work and which would lead to "public outrage" that would let them "fix" the bill later to eventually get to the single payer system.
And to a degree this worked because insurers climbed on board because they thought this meant 30 million more forced clients, plus direct government subsidies to the insurers starting in 2014, without any controls over premiums. The drug makers did the same thing, and many companies are happy with the idea of eliminating their insurance plans which are very expensive.
But overall, the problem for the Democrats is that the public was too well informed about the bill (except for the Kool-Aid blinded supporters) and they saw this for what it was. So there is little support for the bill. And as time passes and the promises aren't coming true, the people will turn more and more against the bill. And that means repeal rather than "move further".
The biggest mistake they made was in over-promising and then putting the benefits so far out into the future that the public has no "selfish" reason to stick with the bill, i.e. individuals don't get anything out of it.
Basically, they were hoping for public outrage against the insurers and the doctors, but instead, it's aimed at the bill.
Bev, "That could never happen!" And you're right, there is nothing in here that requires that they cover any more treatments than they did before. There is a mechanism that lets you hire and attorney to fight the denial of claims, but there's nothing that says "from now you, you insurers must cover ____."
Basically, people are assuming they will get cheap (free) care of all conditions, but that's not going to happen.
Similarly, there is some language that says things like "you can only change old people X times what you charge the young" but there is nothing that limits the base number.
The doctor's shortage was a problem even before ObamaCare and now it's going to get worse. They estimate that we need 20% more doctors over the next few years than we have, and some are estimating that as many at 5% of current doctors could retire because of ObamaCare. That's going in the wrong direction.
like minds, brother. i wrote about this today too, and you're right, i think diane knew about this all along.
Patti, I think there is no way Feinstein didn't know about this. She's just pretending that she didn't know so that her left doesn't think she orchestrated this.
LL: Sorry, nothing left. I just paid my taxes so that the 40% on welfare and public assistance don't have to. I also paid my Medicare premium for the care I'll never get after paying for it for forty-five years. The only good news is that the healthy 21-year old next door who has never paid a dime in taxes has his Obamacare.
Lawhawk, Now don't be so cynical. You neighbor has earned government support. . . he worked hard to become incompetent.
Andrew: At least there's some fun irony in this whole thing. The Obamacare bill that the Congress didn't read before passing apparently requires Congressmen and Senators to give up their cushy health care program and go into the Obamacare system immediately, even though the program itself doesn't kick in for another four years, leaving them with no health care insurance at all. Somehow, I think they'll quickly fix that little jewel, and read the bill carefully before sending it to the president.
Dear Mr. LL, I have heard about your plight and I'll be happy to take over the payments for your new Mercedes E550. But in order to complete the legal transfer for payments from my bank account, please forward a one-time transfer fee of $5,000 to verify your interest and this transaction. I promise the money will be returned to you upon verification and I will begin to pay for your car immediately upon receipt.
Yours truly,
BevfromNYgeria
PS If you could throw in your date of birth and Social Security Number too that would really help to expedite this transaction.
Lawhawk, I read that. . . that's hilarious! I hope they can't get it fixed. That would be so fitting!
Nice work Bev! Good thinking! Now that is the Commentarama way! ;-)
I’m loving it, and your reference to Casablanca is perfect. A lot of this healthcare
crap has been in the can for years, and they threw it together like Dr. Frankenstein in their laboratory, and they’re surprised that the villagers want to run the monster down and kill it. Incompetence on skates.
Stan, I find myself stunned. They've wanted this forever. They had the chance to get what they wanted. And when the rubber hit the road, they did it all wrong. Wow! If I were a leftist, I'd be furious right now.
Andrew, that's what has not made sense during this entire process. Why did they waste so much time on this bill and not try or WANT to try to get it right. There was never any pending catastrophe. People weren't dying in the street for lack of this legislation. Any time someone broached the rush, the answer was either - "We know it's not perfect, but we must do this now for the people" or "We just want to get this through and we'll get it right later" But then I guess it was about winning, not good legislation.
You mean my premiums aren't going down THIS YEAR by $2500, as Pres. Obama promised no less than 11 times?? I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!
Let the fingerpointing among the Dems begin! Maybe they could resolve their differences in a televised cage match?
Bev, That's a very good question. I think the problem goes back to them not having a governing philosophy. They have lots of little interests, each of which wanted "their share." That almost by definition creates an unworkable mess.
Also, I think they entirely misread the Clinton health care disaster. The lesson they "learned" from that was (1) to enlist big business in the scam -- which is stupid because big business only wants to improve it's bottom line and doesn't care at all about creating something that will work, and (2) they feared a top down approach and instead decided to let the 600+ idiots in Congress create this thing by committee. That's a recipe for disaster, even if they are all working in good faith -- which they weren't.
Writer X, A cage match sounds like a good idea! Right now they are pointing fingers at the Republicans and at "the process," but that can only last so long. Even their stupider activists will soon start asking questions, and that's when everything blows up on them.
Come on people, give the poor man a break. He is merely trying to transform America, and if that entails telling the occasional fib, so be it. Don't you remember that justice equates to economic justice? Don't you remember those bastard Republicans and their capitalist tools at the insurance companies have lied all along? Oh wait, maybe not . . . .sorry, never mind:-) By the way, lay the hell off Senator Difi. She is just the swellest public servant a Cauleefournyun could ever hope to have!!!
Jed, LOL! That is kind of how they are trying to defend this -- evil, lying Republicans made all those promises you keep hearing come out of the mouths of Democrats.
I can see Feinstein running on a slogan: "Vote for me, I'm swell!"
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