An ugly way to get insurance

NY Post ^ | september 19, 2012 | ROBERT GOLDBERG

[lowbridge]

The good news: More Americans have health insurance. The bad news: It’s because they don’t have jobs.

ObamaCare supporters hail the drop in the number of uninsured, announced by the Census Bureau last week, as a sign of the new law’s success. In fact, it’s a sign of continued job-market decline and of how many of us have to depend on government programs for far too long.

Nearly 1.4 million more people had health insurance in 2011 than in 2010 — but that includes nearly 800,000 who gained coverage despite not working at all.

In short, the rise comes mainly from more Americans being forced into safety-net programs by declining incomes and reduced job opportunities.

Look at this trend another way: In 2011, the number of people covered by Medicaid jumped 2.3 million, while Medicare saw 2 million new enrollees.

And only 575,000 of those new Medicare cases were people turning 65. Most of the other 1.5 million is associated with the exponential growth in people becoming Medicare-eligible because they’ve filed for Social Security disability coverage.

By comparison, the number of people gaining health insurance via work rose only 730,000.

[Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America]

This is why the FIRST item on Obama’s agenda (in the middle of an ailing economy) was to pass Obamacare.. Phase II was to KILL job growth all together. Perfect recipe for boosting entitlements resulting in more votes and re-election.