Posted on 09/10/2009 6:44:39 AM PDT by george76
In his speech tonight, the president introduced a new number in the health care debate. Remember all those statements from Democrats, including Barack Obama himself, that 47 million Americans are without health insurance? That's no longer the operative number. "There are now more than thirty million American citizens who cannot get coverage," the president said in tonight's speech.
But on August 10, at a town hall meeting, Obama referred to the "46, 47 million people without health insurance in our country…" And on July 23, he said, "This is not just about the 47 million Americans who don't have any health insurance at all…"
What's the difference? Obama appears to be choosing his words carefully. There is a difference between Americans who "cannot get coverage" and Americans who "don't have any health insurance at all." The interesting question is why Obama has chosen to downgrade the number from 47 million to 30 million. Look for Democrats to begin using the new figure in making the case for Obamacare.
So why did Obama make the change? The first possibility is the difference between people who "don't have any health insurance" and people who "cannot get coverage." Millions of Americans who can afford health insurance choose not to have it, many of them because they are young, healthy and unlikely to need it.
The second difference in Obama's phrasing is between "people without health insurance," in his old phrasing, and "American citizens" without coverage, as he said in last night's speech. Was Obama, faced with the (accurate) charge that the current Democratic health care proposals have no enforcement mechanism to prevent people in the United States illegally from receiving government-supported coverage, excluding non-citizens from his total?
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
ht comments
Try somewhat less than 12 million.
And are Americans thinking...”hey we just insured another 17 million overnight without spending a dime”?
Wow! It’s been 46 million since Johnson was in office, with little up-down change.
0bama cut the number? There is an Excel spreadsheet function called PIDOOMA() and it stands for Pulled It Directly Out Of My Imagination. It’s more targeted than RAND.
I remember when the number of “the homeless” was pegged at 400,000 for a long time, until Perot set it at 120,000 or so. After that everyone including NPR used the new number.
Well that’s what I thought. We just need to keep to this path and soon all will be insured without one additional penny being spent...that 0bama, he’s really a miracle worker isn’t he?
Ditto!!!!!!!!!
He insured 15 M just by discussing the issue, he scared those insurance companies into insuring them. That man is magic, like Rush/Sharpton song, “Puff the Magic ....”
30 million uninsured.
900 Billion dollars.
That’s $30,000 per uninsured.
How about opening health insurance competition across state lines and give every uninsured a $5000 check to buy health insurance with.
That’s $150,000,000,000 or 84% savings.
Problem solved. Cheap.
Now, even if we provide these affordable options, there may be those -- especially the young and the healthy -- who still want to take the risk and go without coverage. There may still be companies that refuse to do right by their workers by giving them coverage. The problem is, such irresponsible behavior costs all the rest of us money. If there are affordable options and people still don't sign up for health insurance, it means we pay for these people's expensive emergency room visits. If some businesses don't provide workers health care, it forces the rest of us to pick up the tab when their workers get sick, and gives those businesses an unfair advantage over their competitors. And unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek -- especially requiring insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions -- just can't be achieved.
So on the one hand, Zero says that those who could afford health insurance but choose not to cost the system, but on the other hand Zero says he needs those people's premiums to subsidize all of his "reforms."
Joe Wilson said it best.
Well, I am thinking there have been 17 million die from lack of health care since his last speech.
.....47 million or 30 million, it makes no difference....there’s still not enough doctors/nurses to handle the increased case load.
Also, as mentioned by several others, by reducing the number in the potential coverage, you reduce the overall costs and meet his goal of not increasing the deficit. If there is anybody around who believes this particular fairytale, I invite them to bid on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Governments never stay at minimum criteria any longer than it takes to get the initial implementation done.
Three more months and we will not have a problem.
“There are now more than thirty million American citizens who cannot get coverage,”
Is that supposed to include those of us who choose not to have health insurance???
And under Barrycare, will we still have that choice to make???
obama just threw 17 million illegal aliens under the bus.
Is he now excluding illegal aliens from the total?
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