Healthcare

As a general rule, I try to be polite with people and their policies.

When Obamacare first came out, I was careful to not attribute bad motives or intentions to those who wanted to change our health care system. It’s true I didn’t share their view of greater government intrusion in the U.S. healthcare industry, but I wanted to be civil in my reactions and opinions.

But I learned something recently that caused me to change my mind. It’s time to take off the kid gloves and state the truth plainly.

Obamacare is a sinister disaster.

Here’s why…

Actually, we should have known this a long time ago. There were a number of ominous signs when the original bill was being passed:

Sign One – The way the bill was put together behind closed doors on a totally partisan basis. The Democratic Party allowed no Republican involvement and didn’t allow CSPAN or anybody else to broadcast hearings or the decision-making process. A cloak of darkness almost always means deception. We should have strongly protested this clandestine process.

Sign Two – Buying off a number of senatorsto get this bad bill to pass. Congress is always involved to some degree in horse-trading,  but the “Louisiana Purchase” with Senator Mary Landrieu and the “Cornhusker Kickback” bribe made to Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson–and others–went way beyond the pail. The passing of this legislation was loaded with bribery and pay-offs. That’s bad policy in a democratic republic.

Sign Three: Three thousand pages in length. The Obamacare bill was a multi-thousand page bureaucratic monstrosity–worth of the former Soviet Union but not the United States of America. The important things in life and best writings are usually simple–think the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. We should have shouted from the housetops that we would not stand for a bill that was so large that nobody had time to read it–that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said needed to be passed quickly so that afterwards “we could find out what was in it.” Three hundred million Americans should have shouted bloody murder over that perversion of the legislative process. Pass a bill that alters an industry and nation–and find out afterwards what it means? That’s not only idiotic–its an evil use of governmental power.

Sign Four – Exceptions, exceptions, exceptions. Obamacare was passed on the idea that it was better for American business and the public. We were told it  would make health care more available and affordable, bring costs down, and decrease the deficit.  Well, if it was so good for one and all, why did nearly 1000 groups line up to be excused from the program for a number of years? If something is good, you won’t want to be excluded. You will desire to be the first in line for the benefits.

That didn’t happen with Obamacare. If it’s bad for business now, it will be far worse in the future.

But the worst abuse of the Obamacare bill only came to light recently. That’s because it took all this time to carefully comb through the voluminous pages of this legislative nightmare and actually begin to understand what it was saying and doing.

Buried in the 3000 pages of federal healthcare takeover was a stealth appropriation of 105 billion dollars!

Let that sink in.

105 billion.

That’s the entire size of  the US debt in 1980–a mere thirty-one years ago.  To implement Obamacare over the coming years, the authors of the bill totally side-stepped the appropriations process of the US Congress. They didn’t want anyone ever changing their prize plum.

How’s that for democracy?  Sounds more like tyranny or dictatorship to me.

Our hero for uncovering this fraud is Congressman Ernest Istook. Here’s how the Heritage Foundation reported this incredible find:

“Today former Congressman Ernest Istook testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee about the $105 billion slush fund in advance appropriations liberals tucked inside Obamacare. The $105 billion bypasses the traditional yearly budgeting process and is spread throughout the 2,700 page legislation. It took the Congressional Research Service (CRS) seven months to identify all the disparate funds and it was not until February (11 months after the bill passed) that all of the funds could be totaled up.”

We also need to give Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) immense credit for beating the drum to raise awareness of this unprecedented level of hidden, advance spending. She calls it “Obamacare’s 105 Billion Dollar Power Grab.”

Here is her analysis:

“While Obamacare is rightly notorious as a fiscal nightmare, less well known is just how massively it transferred power from Congress to the executive branch. In fact, the full scope of Congress’s abdication is still unknown. What is now known, however, is that deeply buried within Obamacare was a $105 billion slush fund that assures its implementation into the future, no matter what future voters think or want.”

“This makes then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comment to the Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties about Obamacare, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” made a year ago tomorrow, ironically prescient. Just this past month, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) updated an October 2010 reporttitled “Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).” The new report found that, unbeknownst to almost every Member of Congress, Obamacare contains $105 billion in direct implementation spending that bypasses Congress’s normal appropriations process.”

“A separate CRS report, titled New Entities Created Pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, concludes: “The precise number of new entities that will ultimately be created pursuant to [Obamacare] is currently unknowable, for the number of entities created by some sections is contingent upon other factors, and some new entities may satisfy more than one requirement in the legislation.” These new bureaucracies would have the power to reach into your life on a daily basis, including control over who is allowed to sell you health insurance and how they may do so, as well as what procedures Medicare will or will not pay for. Once Congress allows these new bureaucracies to be created, it will be next to impossible to get your health care freedom back.”

“But these merging entities do have a weak spot. CRS reports: “In practical terms, many of these entities will not be able to function until their members are appointed and funds are appropriated or made available for the entities to operate.” That is where the secret $105 billion stash comes in. Instead of leaving these fledgling bureaucracies vulnerable to the budgetary decisions of future Congresses, Obamacare appropriated billions in implementation spending over a 10-year period. Conservatives can still save the nation from Obamacare’s bureaucratic kudzu, but they must act proactively. They must go beyond simply not providing funds for the implementation of Obamacare. CRS explains: “Precedents require that the language be phrased in the negative, for example, that ‘none of the funds provided in this paragraph (typically an account) shall be used for’ a specified activity.”

“This is why our nation cannot afford to fund the federal government by continuing resolutions, which perpetuate the status quo—a status quo where Obamacare’s implementation is already funded. In order to truly defund Obamacare, conservatives must go through all 2,700 pages of the bill and cut spending for every program one by one. That is the mandate this Congress was elected on. Members need to do their jobs.”

“Last night, I shared important news with you about the fraudulent appropriation of $105 billion dollars to fund Obamacare, passed by Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats without a single hearing or even allowing Members of Congress time to read the bill. In the coming week, my colleagues and I will be doing everything we can to ensure that this funding is rescinded, and I hope you’ll sign my petition to call on the rest of Congress to do the same.”

I was concerned about Obamacare from the beginning. But I was polite in my analysis and gave the benefit of the doubt to the authors.

No more. No more politeness. Obamacare is the worst bill in the history of the United States.  It was crafted in darkness, used massive bribery to win approval, is a bureaucratic monstrosity, and stealthily used a massive monetary power grab to insure its survival.

It needs to be repealed, defunded, publicly scorned and placed on the ask heap of history.

There will be no economic renewal–or renewal of government–without it. 

A few days ago, the newly elected U.S. House of Representatives honored the will of the people by voting to repeal Obamacare. I am grateful for their courage and thank them for sticking to their convictions and the wishes of the American electorate.

Obamacare was arguably the worst piece of major legislation ever passed in the United States. It was a corrupt, brazen take-over of nearly one-sixth of the American economy, a job killer, a massive deficit creator, and just plain stupid.

Kudos to the House for “change we can believe in.”

Now the battle will go on in the Senate and be one of the pivotal issues of the 2012 election.

The following article by Redstate.com is the best summary I’ve seen on the importance of ending Obamacare and what we need to do make our health care system the best in the world.

It boils down to this…..RB

Repeal Obamacare. Them Let’s Do Something Really Radical…Try Freedom

Government is (and always has been) the problem, not the solution.

Redstate – 12-17-10

ObamaCare. No, it’s not dead. Not even close. Yet…there is some hope on the horizon that the foray into enslaving America in a government-dictated insurance scheme may yet be repealed, outlawed, or just thrown into the ash heap of really, really bad ideas.

The reason for this post is very simple: First, we need to recognize that government is the problem with America’s health care costs, not the solution. Second, we need to start coming up with some fresh and bold ideas in the eventuality that we can slay the beast of government-run healthcare once and for all. Even if ObamaCare is repealed in House, unless there are 67 senators who can be dragged away from the altar of closed-market health care to override a presidential veto, 2013 is the earliest ObamaCare can be aborted—but then what?

As a small business owner who just got hit with a $3600 insurance premium hike for 2011 and who will be paying (at a minimum) $177,500 over the next ten years just for the “privilege” of having one family covered with insurance, you can be assured that my points are more than mere rhetorical ones. If I had my druthers, I would have a catastrophic-only plan that covers emergencies and life-threatening illnesses, and pay the rest out of pocket. I’d probably save well over $125,000 in the next ten years with a plan like that—if one existed.

The problem is, a plan like that doesn’t exist…can’t exist. Why? The government bureaucrats won’t allow it. In our state, there are, by law (or regulation), only three types of insurance, provided by three insurers. It is a closed market scheme. In addition, let’s just say (for the sake of discussion) that a plan like that did exist in the next state over and I wanted to purchase it. I couldn’t do that either—because the government bureaucrats have created an artificial wall that won’t allow insurance to be bought across state lines. You see, in this simple and real small-business example, already government is the problem—and we’re paying the price.

Last year, when Nancy Pelosi went on her lunatic rant about insurance carriers being “immoral”, it was the epitome of hypocrisy—sort of like the Devil calling demons evil for doing what their master taught them to do. (Too harsh?…What is it then, if not evil, for those who purposely unleash a disease to also claim to be the cure?) People who claim that insurance companies have monopolies don’t realize that it is Congress that created the monopolies to begin with. That is why Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama, and the rest of their kind, have been so disingenuous in shoving ObamaCare up America’s rectum.

Like a healthy person going for a checkup, and going home with herpes, America has been gamed, lied to, and tricked into believing that health care is incompatible with a free market—lied to by the very people who claim to have the cure. Democrats and their union coaches have become nothing more (or better) than snake oil salesmen.

Yes, the cost of health care has risen exponentially for years. Health care costs have destroyed incomes, cost American jobs, caused strikes, and bankrupted companies. But it’s not due to a lack of government, it’s because of too much government.  It hasn’t been the fault of the free market, as the socialist union bosses and the Marxist Democrats claim, it has been because it has not been a free market. If America wants to blame anyone, we should blame those who have been controlling and gaming the system—the bureaucrats and their union bosses—who now claim that more bureaucracy is the cure.

So, before we continue talking about “how government should fix health care,” perhaps it’s time we recognize how government caused it to be broken in the first place. Let’s begin looking at the true reason why the cost structure has been so blown out of alignment. And, then, perhaps more will understand why we need to tell government to get out of the way—now!

Last year, as the heated rhetoric of the health care debate was raging all across America, John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that provided some market-based alternatives to the monstrous big-government scheme that has become ObamaCare. While Mackey’s piece was brief, the Left’s reaction to it was extreme.

Immediately, the attack dogs from the unions launched a nationwide boycott of Whole Foods, Mackey was attacked personally, and the Left screamed hysterically. To see the Left’s ridiculous reaction indicated that they felt threatened by Mackey’s ideas—which meant they were probably pretty good ideas. While you can read the entire Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare here–and it is worth reading in its entirety, below is the main thrust of Mackey’s ideas:

Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs). The combination of high-deductible health insurance and HSAs is one solution that could solve many of our health-care problems. For example, Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high-deductible health-insurance plan. We also provide up to $1,800 per year in additional health-care dollars through deposits into employees’ Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness.

Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan’s costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of worker satisfaction.

Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits. Now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not. This is unfair.

Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable.

Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance by billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.

Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.

Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor’s visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?

Enact Medicare reform. We need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and enact reforms that create greater patient empowerment, choice and responsibility.

Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

While there are likely other ideas that are out there, Mackey’s ideas serve as a good starting point for debate and discussion as to what we will “replace” ObamaCare with, if we can ever get to that point. However, if we are not serious about coming up with solutions that truly reflect a market-based system, as opposed to a government run bureaucracy, there is no point in trying to repeal ObamaCare. If politicians on the Right think they can replace big bureaucracy with little bureaucracy, it will fix nothing, we’ll be right back where we were two years ago, and we’re wasting our time.

In healthcare, as in all other areas of life, we can either choose freedom and a free market, or we can choose to be our brother’s’ keeper—and he our keeper—but you can’t have both. Freedom is incompatible with a government bureaucracy making life and death decisions. And, in healthcare, we can’t just be against ObamaCare, and not be for something to replace it.

The question is, can we take the steps to beat the bureaucrats back?  And, if so, then what?