The Enamored of ObamaCare and the Democratic Party Emerging 2014 Campain Srategy...
by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs-Tyranny
For sure the healthcare system in America has been in need of serious overhaul for sometime. One should give the President credit for tackling the system that is both expensive for those who's company does not provide health insurance. Which often results in many being uncovered due to the EXCEEDINGLY HIGH cost for private health insurance. Something I know a bit about having had to use COBRA coverage as my company continued on a ten year "rightsizing", which of course was in the name to remain competitive and thereby lose the fewest jobs possible. Net job loss over ten years; 1300 jobs. The wave of the future methinks.
Back to the point of the post. Many are enamored of ObamaCare and have been sold on how it will improve, if not solve our present healthcare nightmare. However, the truth is ObamaCare while having some positive benefits. mostly for the lower economic strata also carries with it some serious negatives. Interesting;y enough the plan was essentially crafted by the health insurance and drug industry lobbyists. That, in and of itself should scare the hell out of people.
Something certainly needs to be done. However, ObamaCare is not the answer as it is nothing more than a juggling of the current system with some added safeguards for the poor or indigent. Many which already exist today and are covered by tax dollars. What we need is a market based healthcare system which allows for open competition and is regulated to the degree that uncontrolled profiteering by insurance companies and big pharmaceuticals are controlled and capped. While profit is a VERY important consideration the pursuit of ever higher profit margins should not trump affordable healthcare for American citizens. Perhaps America ought to collaborate with countries who have a better healthcare system the the USA and adopt what has been shown to work.
Perhaps it is time for the USA to get down from it's lofty perch believing everything American is always the best and start looking at what may really be the best.
POLITICO's website naming the top five complaints about ObamaCare.
Via: Memeorandum
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs-Tyranny
For sure the healthcare system in America has been in need of serious overhaul for sometime. One should give the President credit for tackling the system that is both expensive for those who's company does not provide health insurance. Which often results in many being uncovered due to the EXCEEDINGLY HIGH cost for private health insurance. Something I know a bit about having had to use COBRA coverage as my company continued on a ten year "rightsizing", which of course was in the name to remain competitive and thereby lose the fewest jobs possible. Net job loss over ten years; 1300 jobs. The wave of the future methinks.
Back to the point of the post. Many are enamored of ObamaCare and have been sold on how it will improve, if not solve our present healthcare nightmare. However, the truth is ObamaCare while having some positive benefits. mostly for the lower economic strata also carries with it some serious negatives. Interesting;y enough the plan was essentially crafted by the health insurance and drug industry lobbyists. That, in and of itself should scare the hell out of people.
Something certainly needs to be done. However, ObamaCare is not the answer as it is nothing more than a juggling of the current system with some added safeguards for the poor or indigent. Many which already exist today and are covered by tax dollars. What we need is a market based healthcare system which allows for open competition and is regulated to the degree that uncontrolled profiteering by insurance companies and big pharmaceuticals are controlled and capped. While profit is a VERY important consideration the pursuit of ever higher profit margins should not trump affordable healthcare for American citizens. Perhaps America ought to collaborate with countries who have a better healthcare system the the USA and adopt what has been shown to work.
Perhaps it is time for the USA to get down from it's lofty perch believing everything American is always the best and start looking at what may really be the best.
POLITICO - Scarred by years of Republican attacks over Obamacare, with more in store next year, Democrats have settled on an unlikely strategy for the 2014 midterms: Bring it on.
Party strategists believe that embracing the polarizing law — especially its more popular elements — is smarter politics than fleeing from it in the House elections. The new tack is a marked shift from 2010, when Republicans pointed to Obamacare as Exhibit A of Big Government run amok on their way to seizing the House from Democrats.
But the Democratic bear hug, reflecting a calculation it’s probably impossible to shed their association with the law even if they wanted to, is still a high-wire public relations act. The White House has consistently struggled with messaging on Obamacare, hoping the public would gain an appreciation for the health care makeover as its benefits became apparent. That never really happened, but Democrats seem to be banking that it finally will.
The strategy will be put to the test as the law kicks in next year and is implemented in the months leading up to the election — with the inevitable snafus and critical media coverage as the public gets its first up-close view of the massive undertaking.
California Rep. Scott Peters, a freshman Democrat who narrowly won election last year, said he doesn’t agree with every part of the law. But he said he’s not afraid of addressing health care — far from it.
“I don’t have any problem talking about it,” Peters, who hails from a San Diego-area swing district, said in an interview. “I think it’s a big issue. I think it’s going to be talked about more than immigration or guns.”
One early sign of the shift: After House Republicans brought a health care repeal measure to the floor last month — the 37th time they’ve tried — Peters joined a cast of other Democratic incumbents from competitive districts to criticize the GOP for the maneuver.
In 2010, Democratic congressional candidates in tough races actively promoted their opposition to the just-passed law, in some cases running ads blasting it. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee privately instructed members and candidates to change the subject if they were asked about the health care law in town hall meetings or on the campaign trail. {Read More}
POLITICO's website naming the top five complaints about ObamaCare.
Via: Memeorandum
Les, when they started Medicare in the '60s, the projected cost by 1990 was $12 billion. The actual cost was $98 billion. The suckers were off by 717%! For anybody who still thinks that Obamacare is ultimately going to bend the cost curve should probably get themselves some medical marijuana.
ReplyDeleteROFLMAO on your closing sentence Will.
DeleteTruth be known, we're all probably going to be needing it eventually.
DeleteWill: It is bending the cost curve, alright. The other way.
ReplyDeleteBy offering all those exemptions to his buddies, Obama sends the message that "Obamacare" is a punishment to inflict on anyone who is not in the "in" crowd.
ReplyDeleteSome parts of it do need to go, such as the mandate, the penalties on employers to discourage them from having workers work more than 30 hours, and the provision to force medical equipment makers to offshore and raise prices. The more of the nasty punitive parts of it removed, the better.
There are only 2 ways (that I can figure) to really bend the cost curve; a) Single payer and rationing or b) healthcare savings accounts with a catastrophic provision in which the patient controls the expenditures (eliminating the middle-man of government and the insurance companies). I personally prefer the latter because it seems to be working for various non-insured procedures such as lasix eye surgery and nose and boob jobs (improved procedures at a lowered cost).
DeleteWise, Will. Go with B. Because A kills people and really only serves the interest of those who want to concentrate more power in the hands of the powerful.
ReplyDeleteInteresting the pro ObamaCare are silent on this one. Strange. Perhaps the silence speaks volumes?
ReplyDeleteI am sure they would have a lot to say, Les. And their silence here is because tbe usual leftists are busy or haven't seen this post, as opposed to them running away from it.
ReplyDeleteThe problem (well, one of them) with Obamacare is that the incentive structure almost guarantees an implosion. Healthy people are just going to pay the penalty and only when they get unhealthy will they buy the insurance - to which the insurance companies cannot deny them coverage because of the no pre-existing condition clause. The end result will be a massive premium increase for all of us and/or a dumping of us all into Medicaid.......Yes, I also give Obama credit for at least tackling the problem but the end result of this could be flat-out devastating.
ReplyDeleteExactly Will. The effort may be admirable, the resulting prescription likely a disaster.
DeleteWe will just have to wait and see. And... HOPE it all turns out okay. I suspect ObamaCare will mirror on the national level the issues with Romneycare in MA.