Sunday, June 13, 2010

Guess Who's Losing Their Health Care Plan. . . You

Last week, the Democrats began their big putsch. . . er, push to convince the American people that ObamaCare isn’t a clusterfudge of epic proportions. They're spending $125 million on this campaign, which will be headed by tax cheat Tom "MegaLobbyist" Daschle -- I guess Obama does employ lobbyists after all. . . every chance he gets. Sadly for them, reality blew up in their faces in the form of a leaked memo that highlights something that anyone with a brain already knew, but which will come as a great surprise to Democratic voters: you’re going to lose your employer health care plans. Gee, who could have seen this coming?

The Democrats have a huge problem. See it turns out that for reasons that elude the Democrats, the pesky American public has never taken to ObamaCare. Recent polls show that 63% not only don’t like it, but actively want it repealed. Sixty-three percent is a stunningly large number, and there is nothing in our history that has been as unpopular. Indeed, most people tend to accept legislation once it passes as a settled fact of life and they move on -- which is what the Democrats were counting on happening here as well. But that didn’t happen.

And the reasons for this are obvious. First, ObamaCare is a financial disaster waiting to happen. Indeed, everyone knows that the $940 billion cost estimate was phony. We knew it was based on false estimates, unrealistic expectations, and bad math, and we are being proven right. For example, we’ve already heard (1) that the cost estimate for the second ten years, when all of the benefits finally kick in, is around $1.6 trillion, as compared to the falsified $940 billion sales price for the first ten years, (2) that discretionary spending will be $115 billion higher than expected in the first ten years, (3) that the $500 billion in Medicare cuts used to generate the $940 bill price tag won’t happen, because the Democrats are eliminating them with a “doctor’s fix,” and that the fix will actually cost more than expected -- $276 billion, and (4) that there are no cost containment measures in the bill, meaning all the estimates are far too low.

ObamaCare also is endangering Medicare, which is why seniors are angrier than everybody else. You simply can’t cut $500 billion from Medicare without cutting services -- no matter how much the Democrats repeat that lie. To delay the collapse of Medicare until it can be somebody else's problem, Democrats are struggling to pass the doctor’s fix, which is intended to prevent a 21% cut in the reimbursement rate from kicking in. That cut is scheduled to have taken effect June 1, 2010, but they've illegally delayed it while they try to find the money to pass the fix. Even without that 21% cut, doctors are already losing money on every Medicare patient they see and doctors are dropping Medicare patients at record numbers because of it. Seniors know this.

The Democrats are trying to counter seniors’ fears by flat out lying that there will be no benefit cuts, with Obama making ludicrously false claims that he wants to increase doctor reimbursements, and by touting the $250 checks the government is about to send out to some seniors to plug the “donut hole” in the Medicare prescription benefit, but that’s small comfort. . . you’re going to lose your doctor and no one will treat you, but here’s $250, don’t spend it all in one place gramps.

And now the biggest reason yet to oppose ObamaCare has been exposed. The whole time the Democrats were trying to pass ObamaCare, they kept attacking anyone who said that people would lose their employer-sponsored health plans. Does anyone remember Obama assuring everyone: “if you like your current plan, you can keep it.” They even put out ridiculous CBO estimates that said that only around 5% of people might lose their employer plans.

But now a memo has leaked out from the administration (a joint memo by the Department of Labor, HHS and the IRS) that estimates that within three years, 51% of the working public will lose their current employer plans. Yes, 51% within three years. That’s every other one of you. And, of course, the rest of you can be sure that you’ll follow in the next three years.

Going into damage mode, the administration is now claiming this memo was just preliminary. They are also trying to sell you on the idea that what you get instead will be so much better. Yeah, sure. Of course, you’ll be paying for that on your own, but that’s a minor detail right?

The reality is simple to see for anyone who isn’t a moron. Employers are paying close to $5,000 per single employee and $13,000 per married employee to provide health care every year. They can dump your plan and pay only a fine of a couple hundred dollars instead. What do you think your loving, caring employer will do? Why do you think the Business Roundtable is salivating? The Business Roundtable, for those who don’t know, is a collection of the CEOs of the largest companies who routinely advocate corporate socialism under the guise of “free markets.” They expressed confidence in this memo and endorsed ObamaCare because they want to shift their employee health care costs onto the taxpayer's backs.

Rational people don’t spend money they don’t need to. And if companies can dump their plans and save an average of $9,000 per employee each year, don’t you think they will? They might even offer you a couple thousand to make the pain go down easier. . . but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

The reality is that the Democrats, as usual, lied from the get-go. Only this time, the public never bought the lie. And the few who did, are about to find out that they’ve been had. The morons who expected free coverage on day one have already learned that they’ve been had, with more to come -- just wait for the fines to kick in! Those with uninsurable conditions have learned that they’ve been had. Seniors have learned that they’ve been had. And now working Democrats, few and far between I know but there are some, are about to learn that they’ve been had too.

I wonder how they’ll spin this to be Bush’s fault?

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Andrew: How many times did we try to warn people that if the socialist/single-payer Obama administration couldn't get rid of employer health plans by the front door, they'd do it through the back door by rigging the system to force people into the public plan?

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I can't count that high. Seriously, I think or readers knew this -- everyone with a brain knew this. But there were still may who actually believed the lies. I will never understand why people so easily toss logic and reasoning out the window when they hear soothing words from politicians?

BevfromNYC said...

Is this what Nancy meant when she said we would have to pass the bill to see what's in it?

Anyway, they won't blame it on Bush, but they will blame it on all of those recalcitrant Republicans who refused to come to the table and pass a bipartisan single payer bill. So the Democrats had to water the bill down soooo much and still no Republicans would vote for it. Dang those Republicans!

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I'm sure that's the plan. They will try to blame everything that goes wrong on having to compromise with the Republicans. In fact, we've already seen them doing that at CommieCon. Barney Frank even had the nerve to ask the left "send us more authority (Democrats) so that we can finally do the things we need." Because having a filibuster proof majority in both Houses and the Presidency apparently isn't enough?!

Pelosi's "that's why we need to pass it" quote is the one she should ultimately be remembered for. It's one of those moments that truly highlights the insane mindset that has beset the Democrats.

But as to whether she did or didn't know this, I think they knew this all along -- I think this was part of the plan. Get people tossed off their employer plans and ushered into state run plans. Then reform it as a single payer plan.

BevfromNYC said...

Oh my. I never thought I would ever read something like this from Maureen Dowd!

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I guess the bloom is off the press rose -- though I had to laugh when Maureen said that the "working press" never fawned over Obama. They did. And now they're upset that he's treating them with contempt. Oh well.

It was interesting though that she admits that most Democrats act like they think the press is supposed to be on their side. I guess the Democrats are more perceptive than I gave them credit for?

Ed said...

I'm happy that 63% want the law repealed. There's hope for our country yet.

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, I think that's a really good sign. I think that means that most people realize we still have a chance to undo this disaster before it happens. Let's hope that the Republicans are up to the task.

StanH said...

Well duuuh! …right. Too me it’s interesting that the 63% who want to repeal this monstrosity, coincides nicely with the breakdown of this country that considers itself conservative. It would really be something if we can repeal and replace this turkey.
Right on America, there is hope!

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, I think there's a pretty obvious correlation between the 63% repeal and the 60% conservative beliefs of the country, no doubt.

What's more important, I think the fact that this is "repeal" rather than just "don't like" means that the public is in a "roll back liberalism" kind of mode.

Unfortunately, we will need to sustain this momentum for two election cycles to get enough votes in the Senate to kill ObamaCare. BUT, if that 51% in three years number is correct, then people are going to be getting really upset right around November 2012 and November 2014. So maybe ObamaCare will end up being the gift that keeps on giving?

MegaTroll said...

I too am amazed that anyone bought Obama's claim that their work plan wouldn't disappear once Obamacare got put in place. It just goes to show that people want to be fooled.

AndrewPrice said...

Mega, The problem is that too many people instinctively trust "their superiors." They want to believe that people in authority will always tell the truth or will always act in their best interests, no matter how much evidence history presents to the contrary. There's just nothing you can do about those people. Until they find a new authority figure to latch onto, they will accept any amount of abuse because they don't know where else to turn. That's sad, but there are many people like that.

patti said...

folks signed up for hope and change barry and believed that he just needed time to show the rest of us naysayers that he was the real deal to turn this country around. some of those folks are the ones still turning a blind eye to his failings. (environmentalists anyone?!) but my gut says that most of those folks are mad as hell and are ready to make their public sign of contrition at the polls come november and beyond.

AndrewPrice said...

Patti, I think you're right. They signed up for the fantasy Obama and never looked at the reality. And now that the reality is blowing up in their faces, half of them are clinging to the fantasy "my Obama will come save me once he defeats those evil Republicans" and the rest are acting shocked that they've been betrayed by Obama -- when the real problem was their own refusal to take off the rose colored classes before choosing Obama.

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