15 Reasons Why Obamacare Su-Diddly-Ucks
So the next fight we eCon’s need to gear up for is when it comes to Obamacare. Of course had journalism not died last year we’d be able to have an honest debate about the merits of free market vs. privatized health care, but since MSNBC and the NY Times will get their marching orders from the Obama campaign to say the words “Rush Limbaugh” as a distraction, we need to look out for ourselves.
Heritage had a good post on the Republican plan the media is ignoring we have, US News & World Report lists all the details we need from Dear Leader before he tries to ram it through congress, and the gals at Smart Girl Politics even set up a war room. You might even want to read Tom Daschle’s “Critical” where he openly admits the best way for D’s to take over the health industry is to sneak in on budget bills to avoid a debate on the floor…because what possible reason would you want to debate something this major?
There’s also the part aboot how we should cut back on experimental treatments, which hits a little close to home because had it not been for experimental cancer treatments ten years ago, my mother would be dead.
But if you only read one article on health care today, make it Keith Hennessey’s, “Understanding the Kennedy health care bill.” He lists the fifteen things you need to know. Some highlights…
The government would mandate not only that you must buy health insurance, but what health insurance counts as “qualifying.”
Health insurance premiums would rise as a result of the law, meaning lower wages. A government-appointed board would determine what items and services are “essential benefits” that your qualifying plan must cover. You would find a tremendous new disincentive to switch jobs, because your new health insurance may be subject to the new rules and would therefore be significantly more expensive. Those who keep themselves healthy would be subsidizing premiums for those with risky or unhealthy behaviors. Far more than half of all Americans would be eligible for subsidies, but we have not yet been told who would pay the bill. The Secretaries of Treasury and HHS would have unlimited discretion to impose new taxes on individuals and employers who do not comply with the new mandates. The Secretary of HHS could mandate that you provide him or her with “any such other information as [he/she] may prescribe.”
Read the whole thing as they say, and prepare for war.
