For rational minds there was never much doubt. Get past the emotional rhetoric and crunch the numbers on healthcare and you could not conclude that what was being promised by supporters was even remotely possible.
The bill was front-loaded both in terms of positives and revenue. The bill was back-loaded in terms of negative consequences being pushed well downstream. The supporters wanted a lot of intervening time with which to create deniability. Stand on the campaign stump and point to what is promised and then hope that the electorate forgets you had anything to do with it when the collapse occurs.
Maybe the most visible aspect of the bill was the pre-existing condition provision. Anyone who has sought insurance has worried about being turned down because of some prior health issue in their history. Horror stories abound over job changes which create an opportunity for a new provider to purge you from the system because you are a drain on their resources.
Protection for this vulnerable class is a pretty easy sale. You have to ignore the limits of the argument which postulate that no one buys insurance until the moment of diagnosis. Since you've then got a pre-existing condition you can't be denied and think of the premiums you didn't pay during all those years of good health. Insurance doesn't work that way in a free market.
So, how is it working as we approach elections?
Not A Slow Start, An Orderly Beginning
California has a handful, Texas has a tiny bunch, Wisconsin hasn't noticed. Is there a reason? Sure, it's right there in the second paragraph of the piece: Premiums are too high! Even people who qualify now that they can't be denied can't pay a market price to a company that needs to remain solvent.
Lemme see, what will a Bamster do in a situation like this? Well he will usually offer a "fair" proposal. Tax the wealthy and let government subsidize (i.e. give) the product to the supporting progressive class. Government will provide.
Every cloud has a silver lining, they say. This one is that maybe this Obamacare thing won't cost very much at all for the next year.
1 comment:
I worked for a company that switched insurance plans and promised us no changes to our coverage. The new insurance company actually told me that my wife's pregnancy was a pre-existing condition and they wouldn't cover it. They eventually backed down after I got extremely exercised, but I suspect that's a hint of what we can expect from Barry's ego trip of "My" health plan.
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