Item 1 only works if you require that people have coverage. Otherwise
lots of people will wait until they have a significant medical issue and
then go buy coverage.
I'm skeptical that 2 or 3 would have any effect on costs.
4. So much for state rights...
I have an alternate list:
1. Make it illegal for companies to provide health care. This is the
root of the problem and has all sorts of negative effects.
~Duncan
On 10/9/2014 8:56 AM, Glen Waldrop via Af wrote:
"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"
Well said.
----- Original Message -----
*From:* Rory Conaway via Af <mailto:af@afmug.com>
*To:* af@afmug.com <mailto:af@afmug.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, October 09, 2014 10:10 AM
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] ObamaCare
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 <mailto: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
<mailto: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 <mailto: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
<mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com>] *On Behalf Of *Sean Heskett via Af
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 08, 2014 5:00 PM
*To:* af@afmug.com <mailto: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 <mailto: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