The third birthday of the monstrosity known as the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, has come and gone. It’s been about three years since Nancy Pelosi uttered those immortal words:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV-05TLiiLU[/youtube]
“But we have to pass the [health care] bill so that you can find out what’s in it….”
Three years and we’re still finding out what’s in it.
Three years later Obamacare is less popular than ever:
According to the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll for March, only 18 percent of Republicans, 31 percent of independents, and 58 percent of members of Obama’s own party, have a favorable opinion of Obamacare. Overall, Kaiser’s polling indicates that only 37 percent of Americans like Obamacare — down 9 points from Kaiser’s tally in the month immediately following Obamacare’s passage.
By about 2-to-1 margins, Kaiser’s respondents now say that, under Obamacare, they expect the cost of American health care to rise (55 percent), rather than fall (21 percent), and the quality of American health care to fall (45 percent) rather than rise (24 percent). By more than 3-to-1 margins (57 to 16 percent on costs, 55 to 18 percent on quality), independents share these same low expectations for life under Obamacare.
Moreover, Kaiser adds, “The intensity of opinion on the law still lies with the GOP.” It writes, “About half of Republicans (53 percent) say they have a very unfavorable view, compared to three in ten Democrats (31 percent) who say they have a very favorable view” (italics in original).
Three years later and 67 percent still haven’t found out what’s in it for them.
But we have found at least ten things which the law will do:
Boost insurance costs.
Push millions off employer coverage.
Cause premiums to skyrocket.
Cost people their jobs.
Tax the middle class.
Add to the deficit.
Cost more than promised.
Be a bureaucratic nightmare.
Exacerbate doctor shortages.
Leave millions uninsured.
We’re finding out that there are lots and lots of taxes:
But regulators decided to impose a 3.5% surcharge on insurance plans sold through federally run exchanges. There’s also a $63 fee for every person covered by employers. And the law adds a “premium tax” that will require insurers to pay more than $100 billion over the next decade. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation expects insurers to simply pass this tax onto individuals and small businesses, boosting premiums another 2.5%.
And we;re finding out that Obamacare is anything but affordable:
Leading, nonpartisan budget and tax authorities, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), have confirmed that the Obamacare will levy over a trillion dollars in taxes on an unsuspecting public. Families and small employers cannot afford this. Nor can they afford the 21 tax increases contained in the law—half of which will impact families and business owners earning less than $250,000 a year ($200k for individual filers). Not only does this violate the President’s pledge to avoid tax hikes on low- and middle-income taxpayers, it breaks trust with a community of job creators — most of whom file as individuals.
Job creators will bear the biggest burden of one of these taxes, which is cleverly disguised as a “fee” in ACA jargon, will burden main street job creators the most.. According to the JCT, “a very large portion of the insurance industry fee [will] be passed forward to purchasers of insurance in the form of higher premiums.” And “eliminating this fee could decrease the average family premium in 2016 by $350 to $400.” Yet, this more than $100 billion tax on small businesses and families was somehow avoided by unions, which were exempt from the discriminatory Health Insurance Tax. Former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin has estimated that the average American family will see their healthcare premiums increase by approximately $500 per year because of the tax — no small sum for hard-working Americans.
And just trying find out what’s in it will cost a fortune:
Even the administration’s own documents estimate that the Obamacare’s new tax rules will add over 40 million hours of paperwork per year to individuals and job creators. And new regulations are still being written, which suggests that this estimate is low.
And are premiums going to fall by 3000%?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4rkKzajF7Y[/youtube]
The individual market includes about 15 million people, and around 18% of the roughly 149 million with employer coverage were at small companies, according to 2011 figures from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The individual market is expected to grow to around 35 million people by 2016 as a result of the law.
In a private presentation to brokers late last month, UnitedHealth Group Inc., UNH -1.09% the nation’s largest carrier, said premiums for some consumers buying their own plans could go up as much as 116%, and small-business rates as much as 25% to 50%. The company said the estimates were driven in part by growing medical costs not directly tied to the law. It also cited the law’s requirements that health status not affect rates and that plans include certain minimum benefits and limits to out-of-pocket charges, among other things.
Jeff Alter, who leads UnitedHealth’s employer and individual insurance business, said the numbers represented a “high-end scenario,” not an average. “There are some scenarios in which a member could see as much as a 116% increase or over,” he said, though others, such as some older consumers, could see decreases. He said the company dwelled on the possible increases because it was trying to prepare brokers to speak with clients facing big jumps.
Other carriers have also projected steep rate increases during private meetings and conversations with brokers. Brokers say they are being told to prepare the marketplace for small-business and individual rate increases as carriers get ready to file specific rate proposals and plan designs with regulators.
Insurers are “not being shy that premiums are going to increase in 2014,” and are urging brokers to “brace our clients,” said John Lacy, vice president of group benefits at Bouchard Insurance, a brokerage in Clearwater, Fla. His firm has been hearing from carrier representatives that individual premiums in Florida could go up 35% to 50%, on average, and small-business rates around 30%, though it hopes to find strategies to blunt the impact.
And we haven’t even gotten to the subsidies yet.
Subsidies will be available on a sliding scale for people with incomes of up to four times the federal poverty level—currently $45,960 for a single person and $94,200 a year for a family of four. More than half of the 35 million people expected to be in the individual market by 2016 are likely to qualify for credits. People whose incomes are around the poverty level could see almost all of the cost of their insurance subsidized, while people at the upper end will get only a small discount toward their premiums.
Subsidies is a euphemism for “even more taxes.”
It just keeps getting worse and worse. Obamacare means a trillion dollars in new taxes, the GOP just agreed to a $600 billion tax increase and now democrats want another $1.5 trillion in new taxes.
Sooner or later democrats will take everything we have.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
There will be nothing “affordable” when it come to the Affordable Care Act….All it does is force some of us who who work, to provide coverage for ourselves and those who choose not to work…Which is exactly why I work 55 hours a week, not,
Until those who get all the free benefits feel the pinch, nothing will derail obamacare.
How did this bill come about, anyone know? It is a tax, therefore it should have originated in the House, did it? Why wasn’t this bill filibustered in the Senate, eh Republicans? Or how was it immune to a filibuster? Why hasn’t it been defunded yet Mr. Boehnor? Are we going to run the traitors who voted for this out of town come re-election time? This “healthcare” bill is nothing more than a method for the government to get control of the masses and generate more money for them to piss away. This “healthcare” bill will bring our country to it’s knees, are we going to sit back and watch it happen?
There’s nothing quite like a 1o-second video clip—in this case, not even the speaker’s complete sentence—to give people a genuinely accurate understanding of what was actually being said.
FOX News: “All the bullshit, all the time.”
There’s nothing quite like the ignorant and blind standing up and defending the indefensible.
It’s amusing that Greg will take the smallest “soundbite” or quote from someone on the right and insist that they are the devil come to earth, and then do what he did above.
Can you just picture Greg, placing the shackles upon his own feet, smiling and laughing about it, and trying to convince others that doing doing the same is in their own, best interest?
This was Pelosi’s full statement. It seems pretty obvious that the sequence was pass the bill first and then read it not the other way around which is what you’d expect the process to be in a country that is supposed to be free with a representative form of government. If Congress is going to pass far reaching legislation like this, don’t you think “we the people” should know beforehand what is in there and that those voting on the bills should know what’s in there before voting on them?
@another vet:
Do you think that any Democrat has read the bill yet? Remember when John Conyers, married to a convicted felon, said “Read the bill? Why should I read the bill. It would take two days and two lawyers to explain it to me.” Remember that? Remember when Boehner asked on the floor of the Congress if anyone had read the bill? “Hell, no, you haven’t read it.” he said.
Oh, but don’t you remember Obama saying that the public would have five days to read any bill before he signed it? Oddly enough, that’s another broken campaign promise as he shoves through legislation that unsuspecting Americans are being made subject to as he, and his Capital Hill cronies are exempt from the AACA.
@Greg: To be fair, the clip and quote is over-played . . . like the “mission accomplished” banner (truly taken out of context for the benefit of a portion of America who needed Bush to be the scapegoat for all that ails society–their needs being violence incarnate).
My issue is that no one can adequately defend the ACA and how it got through our government unscathed. You can poke holes in the legitimacy of the clip above, but I haven’t heard anyone with a clear picture of how Obamacare is helping the people rather than hurting them. Most of the arguments are by those who are holding on the idea that Obama and Dems are somehow “right.” That’s about it. No proof, only proof to the counter.
Since the bill’s inception, I’ve personally seen people get fired because the company (healthcare companies, strangely enough) can’t support the care and labor costs combined. Our healthcare rates went up, but the benefits stayed the same. So many others said the same thing.
One young lady I know said that she doesn’t have insurance and just keeps a few grand in an account in case she needs to get care. It’s easier for her. She made a choice. I asked her what she is going to do now that she “must” get health insurance, and can’t take care of her needs in the way she sees fit? She doesn’t know, but she knows the “fines” are coming with tax time over the next few years.
But most w/o insurance have no idea of the $800 to several thousand dollar “tax” they are going to pay if they don’t get insurance. They didn’t run out there and buy it, they just said “yeah, Obama’s great” after the bill was passed.
Others I know who did get insurance are just now understanding what that means. I a friend of mine went to the hospital and had insurance. He got the $500 bill for the deductible and freaked out! How many are uneducated about health insurance? How many thought this was some kind of socialized medicine that fails in other nations?
Fact is, Greg, I’d really like to hear someone tell me why Obamacare, when all the pros and cons are weighed, isn’t mostly “con.” I’m open minded and I’m listening, though I’d like to be spared character attacks on Bush or esoteric social commentary. Just the facts. Why is/was Obamacare a good bill, all partisan bickering aside?
@retire05: The only ones who know for sure if they read it, are those making the claims. Given the fact that are politicians first (one strike against honesty) and that they flat out lied about what was in and what was not in the bill (ex. no new taxes), means I would be inclined not to believe them if they stated they read it. As for Obama, I don’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth other than his desire to fundamentally transform America or whatever his exact words were. That was no lie and he has been quite successful at accomplishing that promise.
It just got worse. Remember that if Americans choose not to purchase health care, for whatever their reason may be (young, healthy) they will be fined by the IRS.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/immigration_vote_splits_gang_of_8-223395-1.html
So according to the Democrats, every drug dealing MS-13 gangbanger who has managed to avoid a criminal record will not only be given amnesty, they will also be eligible for Obamacare/Medicaid. What’s next? Are we now going to require that every prospective illegal still in their native land be insured? And who the hell is going to pay for all that insurance? Nevermind, I know the answer to that.
Don’t forget that college tuition for veterans has been cancelled due to the sequester, but obviously we have enough money to provide health care insurance for illegals.
@retire05: Votes before country.
@Greg: Crickets . . .
This is all I ever get. Also, at what point does a liberal/progressive/dem admit that about 80% of all the media is left-biased? Fox doesn’t begin to offset the bias (not that you can fight fallacy with fallacy–I prefer the silent majority that rejects all of this nonsense).
Scapegoat complex: Bush, Fox News, the Catholic Church . . . until you can educate the ill-informed, overly active leftists, they will continue to destroy everything in their path and believe they are doing the right thing. They’ve become all that they wish to combat, because they chose hatred over love.
Hey, I know, let’s go back to a time (just a few years ago) where insurance companies can drop or deny coverage and force you to to sell your house….or die. Think, people. Think!
@John: You’re babbling. You can still get denied coverage . . . get your house taken, and you will, most certainly, die eventually.
Another lib utopia shown to be immature and uneducated thinking. The “thinking,” and tax-paying part of the populace thanks you for reducing their income . . . again.
Still waiting for a real defense of Obamacare that doesn’t involve blaming Bush or rich people (not the issues, as reason and logic show).
I don’t know about anybody else out there, but yes insurance companies can be pains in the rear. They have done some unscrupulous things. Does anybody think that the government run plan will do any better? The fact of the matter is that this bill had nothing to do with improving healthcare or making it more affordable, it was and is a 2,700 page leviathan bill with tons of regulations(20,000 + pages) and growing. This had nothing to do with our well being, it has everything to do with getting more money and getting control.
Sid #15
I fully agree with you.
@Greg: Apparently, you can’t do basic math, Greg- but that is not unusual for a liberal.
Simply take 30 million people, add them to the healthcare rolls without any new doctors, and that equals longer wait times, plus less personal care.
Add to that the fact that some doctors can graduate with a C- average and still be doctors, and that equals a mess.
I do not want a C- doctor- do you?
And don’t forget that this “wonderful” obamacare law that has been imposed on all of us includes exemptions for every member of Congress, their family members, Congressional staff members and their family members as well.
If obamacare is so damned hinkey jinkey for all of us, why isn’t it good enough for the politicians who voted to impose it on us when a majority of Americans did not want it?
Obamacare delenda est.
ONE of our group waiting for a HEART after many years,
said it put him behind because of the new OBAMA CARE LAW.
BILL O’REILLY
push the raft toward NORTH KOREA, you just have to put a grenade at the end connected to a monitor which would activate it
so it reach destination