ObamaCare's Looming Land Mine

American Thinker ^ | November 27, 2013 | Lewis Dovland

[No One Special]

[...]

What is being overlooked is the new and higher deductibles and total annual out-of-pocket expenditures, especially in the Bronze and Silver plans. The amount of these greatly exceeds the ability of most individuals and families to pay, thus providing the real possibility of personal bankruptcies due to medical bills and high losses for providers who cannot collect.

[...]

So what will happen? The family, being responsible citizens, will initially try to pay the bills, but that will soon prove impossible. They will ultimately default. And in any case, they will most likely end any college planning or retirement savings they were working toward.

But -- and this is the big but -- the entity chasing them for the money is not the government. Rather, it is the provider -- the doctor, hospital, lab, radiologist, etc. This permits the government to stand on the sidelines and shrug at the dastardly situation that government itself caused in the first place.

Once enough patients face this crisis, the provider will be painted as the devil, hurting all these working Americans and their finances. First there will be restrictions on how much the provider can ultimately collect. Eventually, providers will be eating a large portion of any of the money they don't collect at the point of service.

The government will neatly sidestep the mess they've set up on purpose, will be able to demonize the providers (who end up not getting paid), and can step in to "save the day." And saving the day means taking over the now-bankrupt assets of the provider side of the health care delivery system. Bingo: a full single-payer and provider system, under government control, without even having to fire a shot.

[...]

[No One Special]

Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world.
-Epictetus

[VerySadAmerican]

I believe more people will be turned away. They’ll show their insurance card, the provider will go online and see the high deductible then demand a big chunk of change prior to treatment. Most people won’t have the money so they won’t be treated or they’ll make the emergency rooms even more crowded than they are now.

[JennysCool]

The more people keep writing — and posting — these thoughtful stories about Obamacare, the more everyone eludes the central point that this is a complete, unprecedented DISASTER and ahould be repealed as soon as possible.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Here’s another one:

Reform Update: States expanding Medicaid may be surprised by actual costs
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3095913/posts

[Greysard]

Most people won’t have the money so they won’t be treated or they’ll make the emergency rooms even more crowded than they are now.

An ER does not have the necessary equipment for a major, lengthy course of treatment. ER deals with emergencies. The people with chronic illnesses but without money will go untreated; this *will* result in their death "from natural causes." The average lifespan of a human a thousand years ago was about 40 years.

[chessplayer]

Thousands of doctors and nurses will have to be brought in from other countries to replace the doctors and nurses we have now as they say the hell with it and retire.

[hosepipe]

LET IT BURN....!!!!!...

[Figment]

Assuming that doctors and hospitals will continue to offer services to that point. They won’t.

[zeestephen]

Depending on your income, the “Silver Plan” pays extra subsidies for your deductible and your co-pay.

Also, depending on your income, the “Silver Plan” sets a much lower threshold for your total out-of-pocket expenses in any year.

All the plans have subsidies for your insurance premiums.

But only the “Silver Plan” has subsidies for deductibles, co-pays, and total expenses.

[laplata]

LET IT BURN....!!!!!...

---

Amen to that.

The stupid Republicans had better not bail out Obama on this disaster.

[wiggen]

Aren’t there provisions in the bill whereby the feds can write checks to insurers to cover losses?

[rawhide]

I read where some doctors and hospitals are already asking for the co-pays/deductibles upfront prior to the patient receiving service. Cannot say I blame them either.

[Zakeet]

What is being overlooked is the new and higher deductibles and total annual out-of-pocket expenditures ...

What is being overlooked is:

• How a bunch of morons who can't even implement a simple enrollment website in over three years at an expenditure of more than $500 million are going to approve treatment and then pay providers in a timely manner.

• How providers are going to provide medical services at rates well below Medicare and Medicaid to large numbers of disgruntled patients (even if they were properly paid).

• How long funding can continue from an insolvent government who is already printing more than 40 percent of its expenditures.

• How patients will adapt to loss of physicians, loss of treatments, and the actions of death panels.

I predict that things are going to become much more interesting for Democrat incumbents over the next few months.

[John Valentine]

One aspect of this that I don’t think has been reported on enough is the $150+ billion dollars a year that this PPACA program is going to vacuum straight out of families’ disposable income. That’s the discretionary spending that fuels restaurants, automobile purchase and maintenance, much of the food from the grocery, dry cleaning, clothing purchases, sports activities, weekend recreation, movie attendance and on and on and on and on. This is going to hit every city, village and town; every shopping center, mall, and local shopping district in America, and it’s going to hit hard.

This is on top of the direct hit in the form of insurance premium and tax increases all these small businesses are going to get creamed by, and when the combined effect is felt, you are going to see small business failures like in the 1930’s. This is all going to start before the November 2014 elections, and by November all hell will be breaking loose.

I wish there were a way to stop or avoid it, but it’s too late. Americans are going to suffer, suffer terribly and by the millions. The die has been cast, and it was cast by Democrats, and Democrats only.

Democrats have taking their stand, and come November next year, there they will be, standing, immobile, stationary targets.

Too bad we will all have to go through the interim pain. It is so unnecessary. Or given the fact that we have an American electorate that elected these criminals and mountebanks, perhaps an education in the consequences of stupidity is absolutely required.

[ogen hal]

Everyone must suffer...some will die. Only then, if then, more people will understand the destructive effect of electing DIMs/LIBs to ANY position of responsibility and authority. The only value of a DIM/LIB is as a target to practice your ridicule skills.

[No One Special]

I agree completely and you said it so much better than I could. I am really concerned about the number of people who are going to die as a result of this terrible policy. I cannot imagine the people who developed this program not realizing the human carnage it could cause.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

"....The title of Clinton’s thesis was “There Is Only the Fight: An Analysis of the Alinsky Model.” In this title she had identified the single most important Alinsky contribution to the radical cause – his embrace of political nihilism. An SDS radical once wrote, “The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.” In other words, the cause of a political action – whether civil rights or women’s rights – is never the real cause; women, blacks and other “victims” are only instruments in the larger cause, which is power."...... Barack Obama's Rules for Revolution - The Alinsky Model - By David Horowitz

[OldPossum]

perhaps an education in the consequences of stupidity is absolutely required.

Your conclusion is certainly warranted but there's a problem with it: you are assuming that the American electorate, after decades of being dumbed down, can understand cause and consequence. I hope so but I'm not optimistic, especially if the Obama crowd can convince them that the cause is the wicked capitalistic system.

[John Valentine]

I'd say that I am hoping that the electorate, or at least enough of it, is not too far gone to understand cause and consequence. I am encouraged by recent polling trends, and the news over the next several months will be relentless.