The big mistake of the public was that Obamacare was about bringing down health costs. That was a complete lie. Obamacare was a wealth transfer from the rich to the poor. Then it was burdened by the political correctness bug making everyone pay for every service everyone else needed such as pregnancy coverage for 60 year old women. Throw in the corruption and inefficiency of any government program, and there was no way it was going to be cheaper. What they thought was that they could squeeze doctors and hospitals even further on costs than Medicare and Medicaid already had. What they ended up with is 50% of the hospitals not taking it and some of them going out of business, doctors leaving the profession in droves, and small practices having to be bought up by bigger practices or simply go out of business. The problem was that Obamacare never covered the malpractice costs and subsequent insurance costs which are really driving medical care costs up along with the uninsured and illegal alien population burdening the hospitals with uncollectible debt.
The consequences of Obamacare have been far more devastating short term and long term than anyone ever thought of (Dodd—Frank and U.S. tax policy comes into play here also). Small businesses stopped hiring and modified their workforces by letting go full-time employees and moving them to part-time. This has resulted in 75% of all new jobs being part time instead of full time which means that those workers are now on Obamacare if anything. These aren’t the people subsidizing everyone else. Businesses kept workforces at 50 employees, started hiring more contractors, or simply let people go to avoid being forced into buying health care. Even worse, with the costs of health care going up, companies are dropping what health care they had and letting those employees move to Obamacare or cutting the health care insurance that they had back. And everyone keeps touting the “great” systems of health care in Canada and Europe. Those systems are fine if you have the flu but if you need an MRI, it could take months. If you have cancer late in life, I suggest your will is ready. It’s easier to get an MRI for your dog. And when the money runs out in a fiscal year for a specific treatment, you wait until the next fiscal year for that treatment. In Europe, they have lottery’s to see the dentist and if you don’t get picked, hopefully you get picked the next time. Everyone keeps saying that this was a Republican idea. It was actually an idea by the Heritage Foundation and supported by many Republicans, even Newt Gingrich. That doesn’t mean it was ever a good idea, it just means Republican politicians pander to their constituents to stay in office as much as Democratic politicians at the taxpayers’ expense. The best idea would have been simple and cheap. 1) Don’t let insurance companies keep people with existing conditions out. 2) Beef up review of bad doctors and get rid of them 3) Pass Tort reform and limit lawyers from suing for excessive malpractice amounts 4) Get rid of state regulations on health insurance and let insurers sell all over the country Rory From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Paul McCall via Af Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 7:11 AM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ObamaCare Jeremy, I am glad this worked out well for you financially. Most people have been very unhappy with the effect of this, and in then we ALL pay for any costs that are lowered, subsidized etc. Financially for this country as a whole, today and in the future, Obamacare is a disaster. There is NO free lunch system that doesn’t cost everyone the same money, plus bureaucratic and administration costs to get the results. It just doesn’t work that way. Insurance company profits are at an al- time high. TPA’s profits are at an all-time high. Glad I’m making decent money doing what I do … blessed and grateful Paul From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Jeremy via Af Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 10:32 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ObamaCare We pay about the same as we did but our deductible is lower, our out of pocket max is lower, and they covered our pregnancy. We switched during the first trimester because we didn't have maternity coverage (no self-insured plans in our state had it), and Obamacare made pregnancy not count as a pre-existing condition. It saved us about $7,000-$8,000 this year. The craziest part is that we actually stayed with the same provider, Select Health (IHC). It was just the difference between them providing maternity and not providing maternity. We have been very happy with our Obamacare. On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 6:50 PM, Glen Waldrop via Af <af@afmug.com> wrote: Further the subsidies have been deemed unconstitutional, so they're forcing us to pay insurance with the promise of subsidies that they are now going to take away. Bait and switch. The whole thing has been a screwup from day one. It is actually cheaper for me to pay out of pocket than pay for this insurance, but the fines will get you either way. ----- Original Message ----- From: Rory Conaway via Af <mailto:af@afmug.com> To: af@afmug.com Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 7:03 PM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ObamaCare And so did the quality and options of your care. I know that 2 of my doctors retired early and the other one doesn’t take Obamacare. Fortunately I don’t have to use it. Here is my question though, doesn’t the fact that the federal government wasted a couple billion dollars of your taxes on websites that don’t work, companies that are paying workers to do nothing, and companies that are friends with the First Lady with no bid process in place? Rory From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Sean Heskett via Af Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 5:00 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ObamaCare Please don't forget that this whole "obamacare" thing was "invented" by the American Heratage Foundation which is a republican think tank. And the republicans tried to squash "Hillarycare" with it in the 1990's. Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. Also, so far in the states that set up their own exchanges medical costs and premiums have been going down...mine sure did :) 2cents Sean On Wednesday, October 8, 2014, Travis Johnson via Af <af@afmug.com> wrote: Hi... I'm not sure exactly how this ObamaCare thing was supposed to "save everyone money" and provider "better health care". We just received our group health insurance premium notice for the upcoming year, and our rates will go up by 10% starting 2015. On top of that, everyone is now paying a 3% ObamaCare tax on their personal income taxes. This doesn't really seem like much of a savings to me... :( Travis
