More Bad News for Obamacare

1. 60

   tksenseiposted 14 years ago

   A just released PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis concluded that the bill currently being worked in the Senate would, if passed, vastly increase premiums for families and individuals.

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2. 0

   Poppa Bluesposted 14 years ago

   I've been saying this for months! Obama's own handout on his health care goals where he guarantees the following:
   
   No discrimination for pre existing conditions
   No exorbitant out of pocket expenses
   No cost sharing for preventive care
   No dropping of coverage for the seriously ill
   No gender discrimination
   No annual lifetime caps on coverage
   Extended coverage for young adults
   Guaranteed renewal
   
   Is suspiciously absent of any guarantee of a reduced cost.
   Indeed, achieving those goals is possibly but only by significantly increasing the costs of coverage. Now add to the above the addition of 30 million new customers, and maybe you can alleviate some of that increased cost, or maybe you'll make it worse by adding more demand for care. Still the only way to add all those new customers is through a MANDATE to buy insurance, a power not granted to the federal government by the constitution and something that flies in the face of freedom!

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3. 80

   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   Don't you get tired of being a shill for the insurance companies?
   
   Is this Senate bill the one Obama is pushing for or the alternative bill that the Senate is developing?
   
   Here is the whole article:
   
   The health insurance industry is planning to circulate a study that says the Senate Finance Committee’s big  health-care bill would raise health insurance premiums by thousands of dollars a year. The insurance industry has largely backed the big health-care overhaul so far. But this note of dissension puts a number on the industry’s complaint that premiums could rise if legislation doesn’t do enough to push healthy people to buy insurance.
   
   The report, commissioned by America’s Health Insurance Plans and prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, found that the Senate Finance bill could add $1,700 a year to the cost in family coverage in 2013, the Associated Press reports. By 2019, premiums could be $4,000 more than projected under current law, the report found.
   
   The legislation would require insurers to sell insurance to everyone. Insurers say this requirement has to be coupled with a mandate for everyone to buy insurance, otherwise people won’t buy insurance until they get sick. That would drive up the cost of premiums. The Senate Finance bill does include penalties for those who don’t get insurance, but the report finds that the penalties aren’t high enough to make everyone buy insurance, the Washington Post reports.
   
   A spokesman for the Finance Committee called the report a “health insurance company hatchet job,” the Post said. The report fails to take into account key elements in the bill, such as a fund designed to buffer insurers against possible losses, the spokesman said.
   
   Meanwhile, the WSJ notes, the prospect of an insurance mandate is drawing criticism from some lawmakers in both parties, with some Democrats arguing that people shouldn’t be penalized if they can’t afford to buy something, and some Republicans questioning whether the mandate would be constitutional.
   
   The Senate Finance bill would impose fines of up to $750 a year for individuals and $1,500 a year for families that don’t have health insurance, the WSJ notes. Anyone who had to spend more than 8% of their income to buy insurance would be exempt from the penalties.

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   1. 60

      tksenseiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Wow. Who have you seen as a "shill" for the insurance companies? Is this more generalized anger against anything that falls under the evil heading of 'Business'?

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4. 60

   tksenseiposted 14 years ago

   MA has a system in place with mandatory enrollment, including fines. Guess what's been happening to premiums in MA?

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5. 60

   tksenseiposted 14 years ago

   And with these lovely fines, guess who gets squeezed? That's right the middle class. The lower middle class at that. There's a nice indirect health tax for ya.
   
   
   And the premiums go up anyway, and so the spiral continues...

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6. 0

   Poppa Bluesposted 14 years ago

   I'm sure you're not referring to me. I'm not a shill for anyone. What I'm concerned about is how this bill will actually cost us all more, will kill job creation, and undercut efforts to emerge from the recession. Less jobs, lower economic growth, and higher taxes will only serve to make the cost of coverage for everyone more expensive.
   
   The article does point out that a mandate to buy insurance will be necessary to keep costs down. As I have said, Article 1 section 8 of the US constitution grants specific powers to the Federal government and that does not include forcing people to buy products or services they don't want and/or don't need.
   
   I assume you are a believer in freedom are you not?

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7. 80

   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   But, if you read the article, it is the insurance companies that are demanding that people be forced to buy insurance.

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      Poppa Bluesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Yes well they need to get something if they are going to support the bill. After all, the secret back door deals Obama made with the drug companies gave them what they wanted, protection from foreign sales in the USA and a limit to the pricing on the downside. Oh but they aren't "lobbyists" they're "stake holders".

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   2. 60

      tksenseiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      IF such a 'reform' bill is to be passed at all, that is.
      
      Because if this foolish bill is passed and that is not a provision premiums will in very short order rise to the point where very few can afford any coverage.
      
      Oh wait...that would mean there would have to be some sort of 'public option'...and soon most people would have to go to that by default and/or punishment...and most insurance companies would...go out of business...leaving us with the socialized, rationed health care those on the far left have been dreaming about for decades...and we get our health care from the people who brought you the DMV and collapsing bridges...
      
      look how nicely that works out...

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8. 60

   tksenseiposted 14 years ago

   http://www.boston.com/business/healthca … _in_rates/

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9. 60

   tksenseiposted 14 years ago

   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125304790936413347.html

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10. 60

    Francis911posted 14 years ago

    Obama is my idol.

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