Now I'm pretty sure that it goes without saying, that a majority of us are very well aware of the fact that we were repeatedly lied to about all of the supposed benefits that this, seizure by the government of our healthcare system, would bring about. Well, that which is being called the signature legislation of the Barry "Almighty" Administration, that one thing that was so much more important than everything else including a worsening economy that was bleeding jobs, the Affordable Care Act fondly, or not so fondly, referred to as Obamacare, came under a damaging assault Wednesday from a Kaiser Family Foundation survey that found it has already partially contributed to increasing health care costs. Wait a minute, I thought we were all told that more people were going to be covered and it was all going to be cheaper! Isn't that what Barry promised, over and over and over? The survey of private and public employers conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a left-leaning think tank, disclosed that the average cost of a family policy climbed 9 percent to $15,073 in 2011, the largest increase since 2005. Premiums for single coverage rose 8 percent. The group’s findings also showed that health insurance is consuming a bigger share of employer costs, forcing many companies to eliminate pay raises and pass on more medical costs to workers. Imagine that!
This recent Kaiser survey does shed a little light on why it is that so few employers are hiring, as health care costs for employers continue to spiral upward at an ever increasing rate. Which I might add, was one of the objectives Democrats set out to achieve through the implantation of Obamacare. The survey found that insurance premiums rose by 9 percent in 2011. Healthcare costs for a single worker went up on average from $5,049 to $5,429, and for a family, costs rose from $13,770 to $15,073, on average. The survey also found that some provisions of the Affordable Care Act already in place -- including the allowance for young people up to 26 years of age to remain on mommy and daddy's insurance policy -- contributed to 20 percent of that increase. Drew Altman, chief executive officer of the Kaiser Family Foundation, looking to perhaps lessen the impact of the survey's results, asserted that the healthcare reform bill enacted last year accounts for just 1 to 2 percentage points of the premium increases in 2011. But other factors are also contributing to the rising costs of health care. They include the prices of new technologies, research and development for new prescription drugs and the proliferation of chronic diseases like diabetes. The aging of the baby boom generation is also placing a tremendous strain on the health care system, as baby boomers have begun qualifying for Medicare this year. The survey found that with better treatments and drugs, they may live longer than previous generations and impose huge costs on the system as they age.
And in an effort to do a little damage control of its own, because of this recent report, the Barry White House issued a statement on its blog in advance of the reports’ release, accusing it of, "looking backwards." "When we look to the future we know that The Affordable Care Act will help make insurance more affordable for families and businesses across the country, " wrote Nancy-Ann DeParle, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. Hey Nancy, no offense, but you're full of shit! And then, of course, like always we had that Barry stooge and highly skilled lying sack of dog squeeze, White House spokesman, Jay "I lie through my teeth every chance I get" Carney who later attempted to defend the provision of the Affordable Care Act which allows 26-year-olds, to, again, stay on mommy and daddy's insurance policies well into adulthood. "That has already had this tremendous impact on young people in America, which we obviously think is very positive," he said. Most other provisions of the Affordable Care Act will not take effect until 2014. The survey suggests that if costs are going to come down, people will need to live healthier lives. Duh! And just whom do you think is going to mandate how we go about doing that? Survey says….THE GOVERNMENT, who else! Survey also suggests that health information technology will need to be improved, as will efficiency if cost are to be reduced. The survey also calls for greater consumer involvement in health care such as those provided in health reimbursement accounts, where employers contribute to a health account managed by the employee.
Also offering up a critique, we have New York Lt. Gov. and healthcare expert Betsy McCaughey, who said in a recent interview that, "The early provisions of the Obama health law are bending the cost curve up, the opposite direction from what the president promised. The new rules — young adults on parents' plans, no annual caps on benefits, and no copays for preventive care — are not free. They add to the premium. There is no tooth fairy." She is a patient advocate and founder of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, and president of Defend Your Healthcare. She came to national attention in 1993 for her attack on the then Clinton healthcare plan and was considered a major factor in the defeat of the bill. She has predicted that Obamacare will lead to even larger increases in insurance premiums in the near future. Again, that is exactly what was intended to happen since the net result will be for more people to become m ore dependent on the government and move us ever closer to the single payer system that Democrats desire. "There are bigger premium hikes ahead in 2014,” she said, explaining that “1,472 employers and unions got waivers from the current coverage requirements because they couldn’t afford them. But in 2014, the waivers expire and mid- and large-size employers will be required to provide the ‘essential benefit package’ or pay a $2,000 fine — a mere pittance compared with the cost of that package.
Ms. McCaughey said, “That's why McKinsey & Co. found that as many as 50 percent of large employers surveyed are considering dropping coverage in 2014. If that happens, middle and high earners will be forced into the exchanges, and lower income workers will be forced onto Medicaid." This year's premium hikes also result because more people have lost their jobs or part of their income and now qualify for Medicaid, “the government program that shortchanges hospitals and doctors,” McCaughey noted. “Medicaid pays about 86 cents for every dollar of care. Doctors and hospitals make it up by charging privately insured patients more, pushing up premiums." She added: "The impact of Medicaid cost shifting on employer-paid premiums will be far larger in years ahead. The Obama health law will expand Medicaid enrollment by at least one third in 2014. The president promised to solve the problem of the uninsured by making health plans affordable, but in fact, at least two thirds of the currently uninsured will be put on Medicaid in 2014. “Much of the cost of that Medicaid expansion will be shifted to private health premiums." Premiums are also expected to be pushed higher by the rising cost of healthcare in the United States. The average American now accounts for about $7,538 a year in medical costs, including out-of-pocket expenses.
It is absolutely crucial that this blatant attempt by the government to hyjack something as fundamental, and as private, as that relationship between an individual and their physician, be struck down in its entirety. This health care law is an affront on Americans' individual liberty, and we must not allow the federal government to violate our constitutional rights. And it may very well prove to be a true test of whether those justices on the Supreme Court stand ready to defend the people against a government gone rogue, or if they will be willing acomplices in the futher shredding of the Constitution all in an effort to do nothing more than to advance a corrupt ideology that robs from every single American that most basic of rights, that which allows them to determine for themselves, without outside interference, decisions regarding their healthcare. And the truly frightening thing here is that it remains so very much of a crap shoot. Legal experts have said the nine-member Supreme Court, with a conservative majority and four liberals, most likely will be closely divided on whether the individual mandate requiring insurance purchases exceeded the power of Congress. There is so much riding on this one decision, that if I spend too much time thinking about it I don't get any sleep at night. You would think that this decision would be so much of a no brainer, but with judges now demonstrating a willingness to be much more "creative" in their interpretation than in actually interpreting the Constitution as it is written, an environment of uncertainty has now been created where no uncertainty should exist.
No comments:
Post a Comment