Posted on 01/15/2017 7:20:50 AM PST by Kaslin
Repealing Obamacare is all but a certainty. It’s the "replace" part that has everyone hung up. Democrats hilariously claim if Republicans “break it, they’ve bought it.” That’s like accusing someone of breaking the picture on a jigsaw puzzle.
Still, the matter of replacing this abomination presents Republicans with serious problems, not the least of which is the concept of government interference in health insurance has long been ceded.
Were this a pre-Obamacare world, implementation would be easy to stop – people can’t miss what they never had. But it was implemented, and millions of people are used to what Obamacare has “given” them.
This is particularly true of the millions of people who’ve been put on the Medicaid rolls.
Medicaid was supposed to be a program to help the poor – the real poor, not those who have to postpone the purchase of a new 70-inch TV until they find a better sale price. Since its inception, what qualifies as “poor” for the purposes of Medicaid has been creeping up. Obamacare accelerated that trend.
Republicans now have to figure out what to do with a family of four that makes $80,000 but still suckles the government teat by taking health insurance designed for people who are incapable of obtaining it for themselves. What do you tell them?
Calling them losers won’t win any votes, but anyone firmly in the middle class who is comfortable with leeching off taxpayers so they don’t have to address their personal responsibility is unlikely to vote Republican anyway.
Whatever Republicans eventually coalesce around will arm Democrats with people who have no qualms leaching off the government and are more than happy to be trotted out as examples of people “suffering” under the cruel GOP action. So what?
Republicans have to focus on getting the policy right, or as right as they can on an issue with which government never should have gotten involved.
Getting it right means getting the government out of it as much as possible. Republicans can’t concern themselves with who “wins” or “loses,” or if there will be “pain.” Frankly, there has to be pain. Pain should be a cornerstone of what is proposed as a replacement.
The solution to replacing Obamacare isn’t to cobble together a different big government solution, it’s to empower individuals to make the best choices for themselves and get the hell out of the way of everything else.
Among the many changes, there likely will be competition across state lines for health insurance, which will be good and drive competition. And tax credits to buy it. All well and good. But there has to be consequences for choosing not to do so.
The individual mandate must be repealed. The federal government has no business forcing the Americans people to purchase something they don’t want. But there should be serious consequences for not at least buying some catastrophic coverage.
It’s usually young people who don’t buy health insurance. They are least likely to need it and end up essentially subsidizing wealthier older people anyway. They should be free to opt out of that pyramid scheme.
But if, God forbid, someone 37 years old get sick after they’d chosen not to buy insurance, they should not be absolved of the ramifications of that choice.
I’m not saying they should die on the streets. They should get treatment. But they should have to pay for it. Maybe not all of it, but a significant portion. If they own a house, they should have to sell it. Their wages should be garnisheed until a significant but fair portion of their tab is satisfied.
They would have made a bet and lost, and they shouldn’t get to walk away from a bet just because they lost.
Significant pain, or potential for it, would encourage people to do the right thing while affording them the option not to. Family, friends, communities could take up collections and help people who gambled and lost settle their debts, but not taxpayers as a whole. We need to restore the concept of responsibility as we restore liberty. Replacing one big government program with another does neither.
In modern America, the idea of consequences is almost as dead as Latin. The importance of returning them to all areas of life is crucial, particularly in health care. Americans should be free to gamble, to roll the dice. But if it comes up snake eyes, well, the house needs to be paid. If someone wants to risk it to save on premiums for something they don’t think they’ll need, knock yourself out. Just don’t come running to taxpayers if you do get knocked out.
Yep.
I’m sure.
Not eligible for medicare, medicaid, or VA?
“They would have made a bet and lost, and they shouldn’t get to walk away from a bet just because they lost.:”
Hey, privatizing the upside and socializing the downside is a time honored American tradition. I thought you people were traditional.
There will be consequences...from Trump. Obamacare repealed, taking away a false entitlement. It’s not Trumos fault, the Dems own it. And food stamps and free hospital care for illegals. Trump didn’t cause any of the coming problems...he is correcting Democrat failures!
Democrats own Obamacare. Republicans will own the replacement. Let's hope they have learned from the predecessor's mistakes.
Tort reform has been enacted in about half the states. And in not a single one of them has there been any evidence that it has reduced healthcare premiums. Malpractice insurance premiums, yes. But not healthcare.
This was years ago, but no I was in my 40s and had assets. so ineligible. With the pre-existing conditions rules this may have changed. Fortunately I found a job soon after.
You really don’t have a clue, do you?
I won’t say you are wrong, it is simply all the “facts” you know just ain’t so. If this is truly your world view, you need to cuddle up in an Obama safe place and pet your puppy. Health care was not a mess pre Obama. Health insurance left a bit to be desired due to Federal and state regulations.
Pre-existing conditions has a new pool idea I’ve not read yet.
I wonder though if such a condition could be back-channeled thru an HRSC or state clinic.
cba123 seems to believe he/she has a constitutional right to steal from me and others to pay for his/her healthcare costs. There are a lot of issues with healthcare (tickerforum.org covers a lot) that will drive costs down with a market based solution but any type of system that involves government is just going to bring the country further and further towards bankruptcy. The US gov’t already spends 10% of GDP on healthcare - which is what fully socialized healthcare costs in Canada and Europe. We are not getting a very good bang for our buck.
Healthcare in this country was the best in the world with a few gaps. There was choice and anybody hurt or unable to get coverage was billed. 0bamacare was intended to fix the gaps (and the Dem dream was to have government takeover of healthcare at some point).
Get the government out of healthcare except for Veterans (which should be privatized), Medicare and Medicaid.
I think I heard that before Obamacare they had high risk pools to take care of pre-existing conditions after the law was passed. Basically a catastrophic plan which would have been fine for me, if they had existed or I knew about them.
No doubt.
They had state pools before OCare, but I knew no one in one. They worked.
In my opinion, ocare took care of a non-existent problem at every level and was a colossal waste of money and a pure power grab.
Exactly right.
There are several ways to deal with medical care costs.
First & foremost, level the playing field. A law which makes it illegal for any care provider or medical facility to charge two different patients different prices for the same procedure, but that cash discounts were allowed, would do wonders. I have insurance, and am always amazed when I get a statement showing that the Dr. charged $180 for an office visit, but that the negotiated rate was $16.83 for that and he has waived the remaining amount. If I could pay the $16.83 I wouldn't want or need insurance in the first place. But if I go in without insurance I pay $180.
Not only is the price lower, but the Doc has to hire a special employee just to file the fool insurance claims. If we eliminated her I bet he could make money at $12 for the office visit.
Secondly break the AMA stranglehold on the field. Let me choose to go to a full-fledged Dr. with a degree and a diploma, just a first aid provider for a lot lower price, or something in between. A first aid provider would be able to tell me if I needed more than he could do.
Third, reform the rules for the health insurance industry. Right now, they have an incentive to deny every claim and then only pay after it has been re-submitted. This is a huge waste of manpower. They pay people salaries to deny the claims and then end up paying them anyway. The salaries are wasted.
“Obamacare was enacted BECAUSE WE HAD DONE NOTHING ABOUT THE HEALTHCARE MESS.”
Wrong, grasshopper. It was enacted because libs had been attempting to take over health care for ages, and create another freedom stealing government program that benefits their union cronies.
“Obama may have not done what we wanted, but he did something, which is MORE THAN YOU GUYS DID.”
LMFAO. You’re right, Obama piled another $10 trillion of debt onto the U.S. economy, largely as a result of wasteful programs like Obamacare.
Do us a favor and stay in Vietnam, because the next clue you get will be your first.
They sounded like good ideas. I heard they were much cheaper for the customer than Obamacare and even though catastrophic in nature they actually provided solid coverage, unlike Obamacare. Hopefully I won’t have to find out before I turn 65.
Obamacare was created for the purpose of collapsing the economy. The initial target of that collapse was the middle class which is the engine that runs this country. The middle class was forced into the ‘you work, you pay’ scenario that mandates they pay for everyone else with more and more of their income being ‘collected’ for others.
The ‘cost’ of healthcare was never addressed with Obamacare. That was never the goal of those who imposed it on the people.
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