Posted on 11/11/2013 5:28:25 PM PST by xzins
There is nothing about ObamaCare that’s working. It took a pack of lies to sell ObamaCare – which passed in the Senate by a single vote.
But the ultimate problem that dooms ObamaCare is cost — the sticker shock of the monthly premiums people are experiencing right now who have been thrown into the ObamaCare exchanges. According to a 49-state study by the Manhattan Institute , ObamaCare is causing an average increase in premiums for individuals of 41 percent.
The primary reason this is happening is that the architects of ObamaCare confuse health insurance with health coverage.
The purpose of health insurance is to protect one from a financial catastrophe in the event of a serious accident or a catastrophic illness. If you want to keep your monthly premiums cheap, you accept a high deductible of $5,000.
That is, your insurance pays nothing unless your medical expenses exceed $5,000 in a year. Until you hit the $5,000 in expenses level, you pay your health care costs out of pocket.
You pay for your doctor visits, your check ups, your prescriptions, your flu shots, your colds and sniffles. You pay for your routine vision care and routine dental work — teeth cleanings, fillings, and the like.
I keep my car insurance premiums low with the exact same approach. I have a $2,000 deductible. More importantly, I don’t make insurance claims for fender benders. I pay for those of pocket.
But that’s not the ObamaCare product.
Instead, according to the list on HealthCare.gov, everyone’s health insurance plan must now include:
Contraception, including the abortion-inducing “morning after” pill and vasectomies;
Maternity and newborn care (even though I’ve a 55-year old male with kids out of the nest)
Mental health and substance abuse counseling and treatment
Prescription drugs
Pediatric services
Behavioral health treatment
Rehab treatment
Dental and vision care
Alcohol Misuse screening and counseling
Aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular disease for men and women of certain ages
Blood Pressure screening for all adults
Cholesterol screening for adults of certain ages or at higher risk
Colorectal Cancer screening for adults over 50
Depression screening for adults
Diabetes (Type 2) screening for adults with high blood pressure
Diet counseling for adults at higher risk for chronic disease
HIV screening for everyone ages 15 to 65, and other ages at increased risk
Immunization vaccines for adults–doses, recommended ages, and recommended populations vary: Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Herpes Zoster, Human Papillomavirus, Influenza (Flu Shot), Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Meningococcal, Pneumococcal, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussi, Varicella
Obesity screening and counseling for all adults
Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) prevention counseling for adults at higher risk
Syphilis screening for all adults at higher risk
Tobacco Use screening for all adults and cessation interventions for tobacco users
Anemia screening on a routine basis for pregnant women
Breast Cancer Genetic Test Counseling (BRCA)for women at higher risk for breast cancer
Breast Cancer Mammography screenings every 1 to 2 years for women over 40
Breast Cancer Chemoprevention counseling for women at higher risk
Breastfeeding comprehensive support and counseling from trained providers, and access to breastfeeding supplies, for pregnant and nursing women
Cervical Cancer screening for sexually active women
Chlamydia Infection screening for younger women and other women at higher risk
Contraception: Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling, as prescribed by a health care provider for women with reproductive capacity.
Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling for all women
Folic Acid supplements for women who may become pregnant
Gestational diabetes screening for women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant and those at high risk of developing gestational diabetes
Gonorrhea screening for all women at higher risk
Hepatitis B screening for pregnant women at their first prenatal visit
HIV screening and counseling for sexually active women
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA Test every 3 years for women with normal cytology results who are 30 or older Osteoporosis screening for women over age 60 depending on risk factors
Rh Incompatibility screening for all pregnant women and follow-up testing for women at higher risk
Sexually Transmitted Infections counselingfor sexually active women
Syphilis screening for all pregnant women or other women at increased risk
Tobacco Use screening and interventions for all women, and expanded counseling for pregnant tobacco users
Urinary tract or other infection screening for pregnant women
Well-woman visits to get recommended services for women under 65
Autism screening for children at 18 and 24 months
Behavioral assessments for children at the following ages: 0 to 11 months, 1 to 4 years, 5 to 10 years, 11 to 14 years, 15 to 17 years.
Blood Pressure screening for children at the following ages: 0 to 11 months, 1 to 4 years , 5 to 10 years, 11 to 14 years, 15 to 17 years.
Cervical Dysplasia screening for sexually active females
Depression screening for adolescents
Developmental screening for children under age 3
Dyslipidemia screening for children at higher risk of lipid disorders at the following ages: 1 to 4 years, 5 to 10 years, 11 to 14 years, 15 to 17 years.
Fluoride Chemoprevention supplements for children without fluoride in their water source
Gonorrhea preventive medication for the eyes of all newborns
Hearing screening for all newborns
Height, Weight and Body Mass Index measurements for children at the following ages: 0 to 11 months, 1 to 4 years, 5 to 10 years,11 to 14 years, 15 to 17 years.
Hematocrit or Hemoglobin screening for children
Hemoglobinopathies or sickle cell screening for newborns
HIV screening for adolescents at higher risk
Hypothyroidism screening for newborns
Immunization vaccines for children from birth to age 18 —doses, recommended ages, and recommended populations vary: Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Human Papillomavirus, Inactivated Poliovirus, Influenza (Flu Shot), Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Meningococcal, Pneumococcal, Rotavirus, Varicella
Iron supplements for children ages 6 to 12 months at risk for anemia
Lead screening for children at risk of exposure
Medical History for all children throughout development at the following ages: 0 to 11 months, 1 to 4 years, 5 to 10 years, 11 to 14 years, 15 to 17 years.
Obesity screening and counseling
Oral Health risk assessment for young children Ages: 0 to 11 months, 1 to 4 years, 5 to 10 years.
Phenylketonuria (PKU) screening for this genetic disorder in newborns
Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) prevention counseling and screening for adolescents at higher risk Tuberculin testing for children at higher risk of tuberculosis at the following ages: 0 to 11 months, 1 to 4 years, 5 to 10 years, 11 to 14 years, 15 to 17 years.
Vision screening for all children.
This is not a joke or satire. I copied and pasted all this directly from the healthcare.gov website.
All this cumulatively is very expensive.
Obama must think we are all living in the doctor’s office. We don’t need or want all this crap. Most people don’t need most of the items on this list.
I’ve never had a flu shot. I don’t plan on ever getting one. I pay for my own eyeglasses, teeth cleanings, and annual physical exams.
When and if we need some of these items, most of us can pay for these kinds of routine items out of pocket, which would be even easier with tax-free health care savings accounts.
How expensive is a condom?
Is that what we really need health insurance to cover? Should I really be required to pay for someone else’s STD screenings?
Insurance is always a bad bet — which is why you want as little insurance as possible. Insurance companies make a good profit by betting on your continued good health. I don’t think this makes them evil.
You should follow the example of the insurance companies and bet on your own good health. You only need insurance to protect yourself from a true disaster.
And, of course, anything and everything the government gets involved in gets more expensive. usually exponentially.
But, you might ask, what about people pre-existing conditions?
That’s an easy fix.
They can be put in a high-risk pool and subsidized. But let’s not include self-inflicted illnesses (such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and obesity) in the pre-existing condition category.
But what about the elderly?
We have Medicare. Without ObamaCare, we could restore the $716 BILLION that Obama stole from Medicare to pay for ObamaCare.
What about the poor?
We have Medicaid.
So there was no need at all for anything like ObamaCare.
Yes, the old system needed some reforms — some tweaks here and there.
My Nine Tweaks that Would Have Fixed Most of the Flaws in America’s Health Care System
After we repeal ObamaCare, here would be my nine-point plan (tweaks) to fix the old U.S. health care system, which was the best in the world:
1) If really needed, expand Medicaid to address the uncovered poor (easy to expand an existing, well-established program).
2) Make health insurance tax-deductible for individuals (like it is for businesses).
3) Allow insurers to compete across state lines (competition always brings costs down, improves quality and choices)
4) Expand Health Care Savings Accounts (Tax-deferred, like-IRAs)
5) Cap Medical malpractice lawsuit awards (a big upward driver of health care costs)
6) Subsidize those with expensive pre-existing conditions. This could probably be done through Medicaid.
7) Those who show up at an Emergency Room without health insurance would be treated, but then sanctioned criminally. Probably pay a fine or do community service. Multiple offenders risk jail time (like deadbeat dads). That takes care of the Emergency Room problem. It’s a requirement that everyone have some kind of health insurance done the right way.
8) Medical costs and doctor visits should be tax-deductible to encourage illness prevention.
9) Restore the $716 billion that was stolen from Medicare to pay for ObamaCare.
I actually think Medicare was a pretty good idea. Our parents and grandparents should not be bankrupted for the getting old, or not treated when they get cancer or other fatal or debilitating illness through no fault of their own. Getting old is beyond the scope of what we can expect private insurance to cover. But we certainly don’t need Medicare for all, including the healthy who are producing income. The private insurance market most certainly can cover the young and healthy.
These reforms could fit on a single sheet of paper — in contrast to the 2,700-page ObamaCare law, plus 15,000 pages of ObamaCare regulations.
There.
Health care insurance problems fixed.
We bring overall health care costs down by phasing out third-party payment systems as much as possible (including employer-provided insurance) and by making individuals responsible for the lion’s share of their own health care coverage. Then watch health care costs drop.
Flat screen TVs, personal computers, and cell phones used to be prohibitively expensive for most people. Now almost everyone can afford them, even people on welfare. A flat screen TV used to cost $20,000 when they first hit the market. Now they cost $600 — for a good one.
When the market is allowed to operate freely, without a lot of government interference and mandates, costs always come down — often to almost nothing.
This is how human progress occurs. This is how free-market capitalism helps everyone become better off, including the poor — as even oneof my favorite rockers Bono admits .
We then take care of the elderly with Medicare (when health care really can become prohibitively costly). And we provide for the poor with Medicaid. All this was happening under the pre-ObamaCare system.
We had a mostly good health care system. It just needed a few tweaks, some minor adjustments.
There was no need to completely reorganize 18 percent of the U.S. economy with ObamaCare.
Here are my favorites (not that the others aren’t no one’s business but the individual)
1. Aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular disease for men and women of certain ages
— YOU CAN’T BUY A BOTTLE OF ASPIRIN!!!
2. obesity screening
— CALLED ‘STAND ON THE SCALE’ DOOFUS!
I have intentionally NEVER bought a Cadillac. I have always purchased cars based on utility and price.
I have a pickup for working around my mini-farm
I have a high mpg car for drives to the city.
I have a tractor because I need a tractor.
I don’t need pregnancy anything on my family plan. My kids are in their 30’s, and barring a miracle of Abraham/Sarah dimensions, there aren’t any more coming along.
I hope we can kill it, but I’m POSITIVE the Gop-E is in favor of it.
Im thinking the GOP E....may need to have the FEAR OF GOD,,,drummed into them
Im thinking that a MASS OUTPOURING of feet on the ground in the streets og WASHINGTON....is the ONLY WAY to get this done.
WE THE PEOPLE are the only hope we have.
Cruz agrees with you. He says a tsunami of people will change this. I agree. It’s mobilizing those people that’s the problem.
all poison pills. Please go to court. We can win this. Just need a Plaintiff, congress, whomever
Many of the "absurd" things on the list are things which insurance companies typically cover, for reasons I will point out in a moment. The absurdity lies not there, but in banning the very useful and popular catastrophic-only policies (which even leftist journalists who used to work for MSNBC support because they are desirable for anyone who is reasonably healthy and at all fiscally responsible).
Some of the "absurd" items actually are, because they are not covering a contingency, but a choice. The main effect of the contraceptive mandate is to raise the cost of policies by the cost of contraceptives plus the administrative overhead generated by the need to process additional claims for their purchase.
On the other hand, other items on the list have been commonly covered by health insurance policies because there is a sound actuarial reason for covering them: encouraging people to buy them cuts estimated cost of claims paid overall (smoking cessation programs and immunizations being notable examples).
Had they wanted the law to actually work, they would have consulted actuaries and would have defined the "Bronze" plan to be more or less a catastrophic-only policy plus coverage for an annual physical with some minor attendant lab work, and those items of the sort on the "absurd" list in the article which actuarially would pay for themselves in reduced claims at the catastrophic level, and allowed employers to offer the same.
Healthcare insurance in this country is like cable TV subscriptions. There’s no menu option. All or nothing.
This article had me until this:
“7) Those who show up at an Emergency Room without health insurance would be treated, but then sanctioned criminally. Probably pay a fine or do community service. Multiple offenders risk jail time (like deadbeat dads). That takes care of the Emergency Room problem. It’s a requirement that everyone have some kind of health insurance done the right way.”
Jail people for going to the ER without health insurance?! there is no ‘right say’ for the gov’t to impose a ‘requirement that everyone have some kind of health insurance.’
They mandated that I have Man-turnity care coverage in case I ever get pregnants.
The company I work for are analyzing the benefits of continuing our insurance or making a wage adjustment to cover obamacare. But the way they analyze means i should be covered until 2035. At a recent meeting the bosses wife made a comment after he had left the room that caused a pregnant silence. It made me think maternity insurance would be a good thing.
Do you have to ask for these “screenings” and “treatments” or will you get them whether you want them or not?
This whole plan is designed for call in sick for any and all screenings, just like in the army... and government will make sure it will not deliver or delay.
I am sure company boss will not be able to fire you for a breast exam... I can hear the feminists mobilizing their lawyers. This is a get out of work ticket.
That is just so wrong on so many levels.
If the government can poke and prod your portals, they’d have so much more fun doing it over your objections.
They’ll probably develop a “Screening Swat Team” with their own doc. Busting down doors at midnight and taking samples, my man.
Prepare your prostate now for forced testing backed up by 5.56.
/sorta sarc
“Well-woman visits to get recommended services for women under 65”
How about some well-women visits for the guys?
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