Just A Speed Bump In Obamacare?

The question I will pose to you is whether you would rather be underwhelmed or overwhelmed. It's a pretty well known fact that many companies have put some healthcare plans on the paring table and yielded the ax after Obamacare was passed. It's about as popular with the business world as it is with the population in general. Was the result expected? If not by the wise sages who crafted this tax and fee laden fiasco, it should have been.

I reported on the Early Retirement Reinsurance Plan (ERRP) previously somewhere back when, but I didn't go back to take a gander this time as I knew the subject already. At that writing I questioned why US taxpayers were picking up the tab so that anyone can enjoy a perk when they retired early rather than continue the daily slog most of us have to continue to endure. The program was designed, and actually implemented at the time of the bills passage, to pay for 80% of the cost of health insurance for these fortunate ones at our expense. You see this was one of the first things corporations yielded the meat ax to concerning Obamacare.

The magic act included a fund of $5 billion to tide these fortunate ones over until the full force of public exchanges charged over the horizon in 2014. Need I remind that this is but the end of the year of our Lord 2011? But something has happened along this slippery slope and it will be interesting to see how those same wise sages on Capitol Hill, who never seem to expect the expected, react to their obvious blunder. You see on New Year's Eve of this year the fund will be exhausted and bankrupt, again at the tax payer's expense. One writer has suggested that when the public exchanges actually take effect, if they ever actually do take effect, that we should all have the National Debt Clock pulled up so we can witness just how wrong those wise sages who walk the hallowed halls of Congress have been and will continue to be as long as we let them continue to warm those seat cushions.

So how was that tub of money drained so quickly? Why will there be nothing but a dirty ring around the porcelain two years ahead of schedule? Remember the United Auto Workers (UAW)? Yes, the same band who were responsible for the catastrophe of the auto bailouts by their already astronomical legacy costs who received ownership of General Motors (Government Motors some call it) at the tax payer's expense once again. There seems to be no end to their greed as they were the first in the ERRP line. Ponying up behind them were big businesses, state governments and public employee unions. They drained that sucker dry in no time flat.

Probably the only people who will find this to be a surprise are the people who think Obamacare is the best thing since sliced bread. Was it intended to fail? If so, then ask yourself why it was intended to fail. So then we get to the question if you would rather be underwhelmed or overwhelmed when the rest of Obamacare rears its ugly mug. If just a select group of the "favored" can drain $5 billion in goodies two years early then I suggest you think about the unintended consequences which the wise sages of Obamacare, crafted behind closed doors, never seemed to have saw coming. Or maybe they did see it coming and were just being the political hacks they are famous for being.

Me? I'd rather be underwhelmed by something any day of the week. The fix was in, as usual, and it was a failure as usual. Designed failure seems to be the language of the day in those hallowed halls. Maybe they should start thinking about "We, the People..." rather than speculate what they can do for their special interests to fatten up their reelection coffers so they can continue the trend.

As Always,

The Frog Prince