Posted on 10/31/2013 4:33:06 AM PDT by markomalley
When discussing the problems with Obamacare we often hear the politicians focus on the failure of the website, healthcare.gov. Clearly, the website failure is a great illustration of the dangers of statism and bureaucracy, but there is no doubt the website will get fixed. They will make sure of it.
The individual mandate is also a tangential point in the scheme of things. Obviously, there are constitutional issues with it, and the broader implication of the mandate is that government now has the power to regulate (or “tax”) not just all activity but even inactivity. However, from a healthcare standpoint, this is not nearly the most offensive part of Obamacare.
The most odious part of Obamacare (at least on the insurance side) is the fact that it prohibits insurers from doing almost everything it takes to lower costs and requires everything under the sun that will raise premiums. Between community rating and guaranteed issue on steroids, requirements of superfluous comprehensive coverage, and lack of individually tailored plans, the system was designed to fail and lead to single payer.
In a sense, this is the crown jewel of Democrat socialism. With all of their onerous interventions into the private sector, they engender job-killing price-hiking distortions while concurrently offering subsidies. The ultimate goal is to make the private sector unaffordable and create perennial dependency and a permanent constituency – all the while racking up trillions in debt. They have succeeded to a large degree and have amassed a high floor of support as a result of their poverty-inducing interventions. Now they are going for the kill.
As a result of the crazy mandates, which are built on top of decades’ worth of price-hiking healthcare interventions, Obamacare is designed to immediately destroy the private insurance market and slow bleed the employer-based market. At the same time, they are offering subsidies to many middle class families. Although most people will not be happy with this new arrangement, they have no choice but to submit to their new dependency status for such a vital service.
Within a few years, the entire middle class will be dependent upon government subsidies for lousy insurance and sub-par healthcare (from all the regulations on actual medical care, not just insurance). Those beyond the subsidy level will just be subjected to the lousy care without the subsidy.
Consequently, to the extent we ever pursue a fix or partial delay, it should not be a delay of the individual mandate. That will only give cover to red state Democrats and fail to deal with the fundamental problem of Obamacare – destroying affordable care and creating permanent dependency. Instead, we need to restore the free market in order to compete against Obamacare.
The President called upon Republicans to offer solutions instead of just criticism. Well, short of full repeal, here is the solution. Pass a new law allowing insurance companies to provide plans that are mandate free and tailor-made to individuals. If Obamacare is so great, people will flock to the exchanges once the website is fixed. However, if we are correct in assuming that the motive for profit will prompt insurers to offer cheaper plans once they are unshackled form the mandates, then it will be lights out for Obamacare.
What are you scared of, Mr. President? Why are you intimidating insurance companies into submission? After all, it’s all for the good of the people.
I like the last bi a lot about where the people will flock to.
Also, to whose pocket will the fine/tax go?
“Pass a new law allowing insurance companies to provide plans that are mandate free and tailor-made to individuals.”
Reid would kill it.
It is financially and economically infeasible to afford Americans the kind of healthcare protection they want for their leeching constituents.
The reason all the insurance providers no longer provide those individual policies is because government made them illegal. Government wants them to pay for nearly any doctor visit, prescription, etc., even at their bronze level.
To relegate ‘insurance’ to a process where there isn’t any risk [read basic customary costs/copays] to the consumer for the main healthcare costs at a macro level is to deny the concept of insurance altogether.
The personal mandate was and is still a joke, the fine is small compared to O-care insurance prices (with mandates) and the IRS is forbidden from punishing you for not paying it anyway. GOP seized on it as the main problem because it looked unpopular but if someone told Americans the truth many would just not comply.
The real teachable moment is that the mandates on the insurance companies are NOT free, as the mandates on hospital emergency rooms are NOT free. Those are the POPULAR mandates.
‘Make them take care of the needy but just don't tax me for it’
Liberals (under “O”) have got themselves frantically and hysterically under the thrall of this ‘progressive’ cult.
They are like reformed alcoholics who have gone off the wagon and are on a suicidal binge of self-indulgence to the point of a blind, reeling and uncontrollable frenzy!!!
Every day, I wonder where the wild abandon will take them (and us) NEXT.
Our representatives in DC MUST BE under some kind of paralyzing thrall as well… or this would have been checked LONG AGO!
We HAVE representatives in Washington, so what prevents perfectly sane adults from calling this by its right name?
At the least it’s criminal malfeasance … and at the worst, it’s a text book coup!
In his effort to appear superior to the masses of Obamacare attackers, Horowitz makes a mistake common to conservatives. Rather than join in the successful attack that is chewing up the Obamacare flank, he chooses to bloody his own nose with a charge up the valley directly toward the well protected guns.
Patience, Daniel, patience.
There is a time for your assault but it is later after serious damage has weakened the enemy. Bravado gets you killed
This is why Ted Cruz is a hero. He was the last patriot to try to stop this take-over of America by the Left and people crucified him for it.
As I’ve said since before Zerocare was passed, it is textbook fascism. It is fascism’s poster child.
Up until recently it wasnt that bad politically,
solid Republicans were aways down on it but the promise of giving health care to those in need (the new civil right) and not costing us anything for it, maybe a few billionaires like Romney pay a bit more, but who worries about them? The rest of us win.... was too inviting for many to reject.
We all get more choices too, and pay less.
It sounded too good to be true and so Dems would challenge GOP ‘Then where's your plan??’
But there was no real plan that could beat that.
Obama got re-elected.
But now Obama-care was finally born and post shutdown its on the news as is his #1 promise.
‘Then where’s your plan??’
It needed to be MORE free market and let the market set the price.
And a huge thing would be to separate people’s health care insurance from their employer - a problem caused by the FedGov. But you can’t force the issue. So, again, you let free markets handle it.
It works for car insurance...
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