Obama(doesn't)care

Cowboy Confessional ^ | 10/22/2013 | Guy Smith

[guyshomenet]

Brook’s Law echoes van Braun's Law and both show the insanity of the administration’s response to the fragile Obama(doesn’t)care scheme.

Then again all sentient beings who can perform their own post-potty cleaning-up operations knew Obama(doesn’t)care was a fiasco in the making.

As everyone – including the president – has heard, the health insurance “exchanges” erected by the government to supplement the existing market for health insurance has done nearly nothing. The web sites and back-end software have malfunctioned to the point that people are unable to even discover if they qualify to receive “exchange” insurance, much less buy the stuff. My IT friends (of who I have many down in Silicon Valley) are collectively laughing their Cheetos’s inflated arses off over both the fragility of the initial implementation, but Obama’s reaction to its failure.

Except the independent, contract programmers who buy their own health insurance. They are ready to hack Obama’s bank accounts to cover their increased insurance premiums.

The problem though is not software systems architecture ineptitude. That is merely a symptom. The problem is that Obama(doesn’t)care is a complex scheme that attempts to supplement and partially replace an elegantly simple solution, namely normal commerce. By erecting a Byzantine set of rules, mandates, regulations and subsidies – you know, the stuff Nancy Pelosi didn’t know was in the bill she forced into enactment – they created a monster even Doctor Frankenstein could not love. As with all such DIY creatures, the unintended consequences are hideous to look at.

Field reports about the effects of Obama(doesn’t)care are cascading across the internet. Summarizing the government-inflicted pain points, we see:

POLICIES BEING CANCELED: All policies that do not conform to Obama(doesn’t)care requirements are being canceled and policy holders are being required to buy replacements. In short, you don’t get to keep the policy you like. The Washington State exchange's FAQ notes that non-grandfathered policies are now verboten, and further claims that the resulting smaller number of insurers will keep premium costs down (sure … lack of competitors makes for more competition).

PREMIUMS ARE SKYROCKETING: The wet-finger average I’m seeing from various first-hand reports is a rise of 50%, though 100% is common. Ponder that for a moment – one of your largest household expenses just doubled. The reasons are many, but most derive from unnatural policy requirements in Obama(doesn’t)care, such as insurers forced at gun point to take-on uninsured customers with prior conditions. Since the insurance company has to start paying benefits immediately, they raise rates to cover those costs.

DEDUCTABES DOUBLED: My self-employed pals discovered that their canceled policies force them to convert to new policies that not only cost more in terms of premiums, but also in terms of out-of-pocket expenses. Whereas the deductible on a catastrophic care plan was $3,000, it is now over $6,000 for the same family of four. So in a bad year the combined premium increase ($547/month) and an additional $3,000 out-of-pocket pull removes nearly $10,000 from their disposable income. Say goodbye to your college fund Cindy.

THE YOUNG STAY UNINSURED: Thus far, even subsidized plans under Obama(doesn’t)care look more expensive than the penalty young people would pay for not buying insurance (that evil and unconstitutional individual mandate). Young adults who currently lack insurance will continue to do so, accepting the IRS hit. That “tax” money will be lost in the maelstrom of federal budget mismanagement, and result in new fees and taxes on medical services to shore-up the Obama(doesn’t)care subsidies.

MIDDLE CLASS TRASHED: It won’t stop here. Since the hidden taxes and regulatory costs of Obama(doesn’t)care are made by unelected bureaucrats, any weakness in the system – such as not young adults not enrolling – will be “fixed” by picking the pockets of those whose pockets always get picked first, though the fingers may go through your hospitals, doctors and insurance companies pockets and start a chain reaction that reaches yours.

Yes, it is a mess. Such a mess that as of this morning the first enrolment option on the HealthCare.gov web site is “Apply with paper app”, a twelve page paper-and-snail-mail application form with twelve pages of instructions.

So let’s have a good, hearty laugh at Barack’s technical incompetence, but be done with chuckling quickly. The government’s reaction to their own bad plan will be worse than the plan itself.

[SparkyBass]

[marron]

Video of obamists talking among themselves make it plain that their intent from the beginning was a system that would close out private health care and leave public health care as the only alternative.

What they said in public about being able to keep your doctor and your insurance if you wanted was always eye- and ear-wash from the beginning to keep the masses mollified until it would be too late to turn back. That’s not what they said among themselves.

Byzantine? That’s how a totalitarian thinks. It doesn’t have to be convenient or user-friendly. It doesn’t have to work at all. He just passes a decree that you must buy what he is selling. If it works or doesn’t work is your problem.