REPEAL, BUT DON’T REPLACE OBAMACARE
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
By Kelleigh Nelson
January 9, 2017
NewsWithViews.com
January 9, 2017
NewsWithViews.com
Let
me get this straight…We’re going to be “gifted”
with a healthcare plan we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don’t,
which purportedly covers at least 10 million more people, without adding
a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by
a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed
by a Congress that didn’t read it, but exempted themselves from
it, and signed by a Dumbo President who smokes, with funding administered
by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, for which we’ll
be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government
which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen
by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that’s
broke. —Donald J. Trump
Healthcare
is Not a Right
Last
year, a man at my local meat market stopped taking his blood pressure
medication because he could no longer afford it when his employer switched
to a cheaper insurance plan. Obamacare literally priced him out of his
life. He died two months later.
Now
that 2017 is here, and Obama is leaving office, the real stranglehold
of Obamacare is hitting the American middle class with huge cost increases
and heavy deductibles.
Please
President Trump, repeal Obamacare, but do not add another boondoggle to
our already ridiculously huge government. NO REPLACEMENT OF OBAMACARE
IS NECESSARY!
What
is wrong with allowing the free market to handle healthcare?
Past
major laws and other policies implemented by the Federal and state governments
have interfered with the health care marketplace to the point where our
people are not only suffering, but dying. Is that the intent? Nearly
every law regarding healthcare that has been passed since the early 1900s
should be repealed, not just Obamacare!
If
Obamacare is allowed to stand - and the purchase of government-endorsed
health insurance remains compulsory - there will be no meaningful limit
on Washington's reach into the lives of the American people. That is certainly
not what the Founders intended, and neither is it liberty, freedom or
free enterprise.
Is
Any of Obamacare Good?
President
Trump has rightly stated that competition
across state lines would create more competitive insurance markets,
and that pre-existing conditions should not disqualify care under new
health plans.
But
why are we allowing young people to be carried on their parents’
insurance until age 26? The percentage of youth who actually become ill
between college graduation and age 26 is so miniscule as to be almost
unchartable.
Most
young people don’t need much care. Lots of younger men don’t
even bother with annual checkups, and many don’t do more than that
— and it’s not just because they think they’re invincible.
Young
women are more likely to see a doctor at least once, and the yearly exam
can cost up to $500. But even with what you might shell out for birth
control, it can still be cheaper than the total cost of insurance —
which may not cover the doctor you want to see, anyway. So why not find
a doctor you like and pay in cash for simple, one-office treatments?
How
much have our insurance rates gone up simply because parents across the
country are now insuring their children until age 26? And the big question…why
aren’t these young people responsible for themselves?
Illegal
Aliens Increase Costs
Between
1983 and 1992, health care costs rose almost 10% annually. Prescription
drug costs rose 12.1 percent a year. Home health care prices increased
18.3 percent annually. (Perhaps there were only 10 to 15 million illegal
aliens in our country 30 odd years ago, but I believe we’re at 50
to 60 million today).
Congress
expanded Medicaid to include illegal immigrants, children
(through CHIP,
Children’s Medicaid), and pregnant women.
Because
of the U.S. Emergency
Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 (42
U.S.C.), most hospitals may not refuse anyone treatment for an emergency
medical condition because of citizenship (illegal aliens), legal
status, or ability to pay. An example of the cost conflict
between federal government, state and local government, and private institutions,
is that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) brings injured
and ill illegal aliens to hospital emergency rooms, but does not pay for
their medical care. Almost $190 million, or about 25 percent, of the uncompensated
costs Southwest border county hospitals incurred, resulted from emergency
medical treatment provided to illegal immigrants.
Emergency
rooms on our southern borders have gone bankrupt and closed. Whether anyone
wants to admit it or not, the cost to American taxpayers for medical treatment
of illegals, and now the so-called Syrian refugees and Somalis, has exacerbated
and exponentially increased our own healthcare costs. [Link],
[Link],
[Link]
Anchor
baby births alone have cost Americans billions of dollars each year. Breitbart
documents that one is born every 93 seconds. Medicaid alone
paid
$2.2 billion last year to partially reimburse hospitals for unpaid
illegal alien delivery bills, double estimates from news
reports.
The
amount not reimbursed to hospitals is in the tens of billions. A
staggering 84 hospitals in California alone, have been forced to close
their doors because of unpaid bills by illegal aliens. Los
Angeles emergency rooms are full of illegal aliens. Hospitals which
manage to remain open, pass the unpaid costs onto the rest of us, which
translates into more out-of-pocket expenses and higher insurance premiums
for Americans.
In fact,
at one hospital in Dallas…Parkland Memorial Hospital (yes, the same
hospital where JFK died after his assassination in 1963), a staggering
70%
of all babies born are to illegal aliens. Nationally, 400,000
anchor babies a year — 1
in 10 of all births — are illegal alien offspring.
Special
Interests Lobby Politicians
Since
the early 1900s, medical special interests have been lobbying politicians
to reduce competition. By the 1980s, the U.S. was restricting the supply
of physicians, hospitals, insurance and pharmaceuticals, while subsidizing
and sponsoring more demand. Since then, the U.S. has been trying to control
high costs by moving toward something perhaps best described by the House
Budget Committee: “In too many areas of the economy - especially
energy, housing, finance, and health care – free enterprise has
given way to government control in “partnership” with a few
large or politically well-connected companies.”
After
1998, people rebelled and demanded more choice in providers. As demand
increased again, so did prices. This time, pharmaceutical companies invented
new types of prescription drugs. They advertised directly to consumers,
creating additional demand. (Source: "History of Health Spending
in the United States, 1960-2013," Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, November 19, 2015.)
If we
don’t advertise alcohol or cigarettes, because of their inherent
dangers, why are drug companies allowed to advertise, especially when
so many deaths occur each year from pharmaceutical drugs? [Link]
When you hear the side effects, why would anyone take those drugs?
Congress
Creates Crisis
Since
the early 1900s, medical special interests have been lobbying politicians
to reduce competition. We know that by the 1980s, the U.S. was restricting
the supply of physicians, hospitals, insurance and pharmaceuticals, while
subsidizing demand. Free enterprise has given way to
government control in “partnership” with a few large or politically
well-connected companies.
Here’s
a quick look at the history of government messing with our healthcare…
In 1910,
under Republican President Taft, limiting healthcare competition was started
after the American Medical Association (AMA) lobbied the states to strengthen
the regulation of medical licensure and allow their state AMA offices
to oversee the closure or merger of nearly half of medical schools and
also the reduction of class sizes, controlling supply and demand.
In 1912,
Teddy Roosevelt ran as an independent progressive candidate, with many
liberal reforms, including national health care. Back then however,
healthcare was fairly cheap.
In 1925,
prescription drug monopolies began after the federal government, led by
Republican President Calvin Coolidge, started allowing the patenting of
drugs. And guess what…these drug monopolies have been promoted by
government research and development subsidies targeted to favored
pharmaceutical companies.
By the
1930s, advances were happening in medicine. The FDR administration pushed
for health insurance, and against the advice of insurance professionals,
Blue Cross began offering private coverage for hospital care in dozens
of states.
During
the early 1940s, FDR asked for a Bill of Rights which included medical
care. Truman later offered a national health program plan, proposing
a single system that would include all of American society, but
it was denounced by the AMA and was called a Communist plot by a House
subcommittee.
In 1945,
buyer monopolization began after the McCarran-Ferguson
Act led by the Roosevelt Administration exempted the business of medical
insurance from most federal regulation, including antitrust laws.
In
1946, institutional provider monopolization began after favored hospitals
received federal subsidies (matching grants and loans) provided under
the Hospital
Survey and Construction Act passed during the Truman Administration.
In 1951,
The IRS declared group premiums tax deductible. Employers then started
to become the dominant third-party insurance buyer during the Truman Administration.
Federal
responsibility for the sick and poor was established as a government responsibility
in the 1950s rather than a responsibility of families or churches. The
price of hospital care doubled.
In the
early 1960s, when the administration of John F. Kennedy discussed a plan
for government health care that would cover people of Social Security
age, the American Medical Association (AMA) fought back, along with the
insurance and pharmaceutical industries, with a well-funded campaign–complete
with a commercial featuring actor Ronald Reagan, who was determined to
talk to America about an “imminent threat.”
During
Lyndon Johnson’s tenure, nationalization of healthcare was started
when the democrat house and senate passed his Medicare/Medicaid
bills, and we’ve seen massive cost increases every year since.
Most of us have paid into Medicare all our lives, it is not an entitlement,
neither is Social Security. We paid for it, we want it back!
In 1974,
The Nixon Administration also strengthened buyer monopolization after
the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act exempted employee health benefit plans
offered by large employers (HMOs) from state regulations and lawsuits
(brought by people denied coverage).
During
President Nixon’s reign, he renamed prepaid group-health-care plans
as health
maintenance organizations (HMOs), with legislation
that provides federal endorsement, certification, and assistance. Back
then, congressional Republicans and Democrats agreed that American patients
should be forced into managed care; that patients do not know this fact
is evidenced by public outrage directed at HMOs instead of Congress, the
real culprit…again.
Healthcare
costs were rising exponentially due to the high Medicare expenditures,
expansion of hospital expenses and profits, and changes in medical care
including greater use of technology, medications, and conservative approaches
to treatment. American medicine was seen as in crisis. Nixon's plan for
national health insurance was rejected.
The
proliferation of managed-care organizations (MCOs) in general, and HMOs
in particular, resulted from the 1965 enactment of Medicare for the elderly
and Medicaid for the poor. Literally overnight, on July 1, 1966, millions
of Americans lost all financial responsibility for their health-care decisions.
Offering
so-called "free care" led to predictable results. Because Congress
placed no restrictions on benefits and removed all sense of cost-consciousness,
health-care use and medical costs skyrocketed.
In the
1980s, under Reagan, there was a shift towards privatization and
corporatization of healthcare. Medicare shifts to payment by
diagnosis (DRG) instead of by treatment. Private plans quickly follow
suit, with growing complaints by insurance companies that the traditional
fee-for-service method of payment to doctors is being exploited. I can
remember when I would go to a physician with a problem, and he could diagnose
my symptoms without weeks of various expensive tests.
In 1984,
prescription drug monopolies were strengthened during the Reagan Administration
after the Drug
Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act permitted the extension
of patents beyond 20 years. (*The government also allowed pharmaceuticals
companies to bribe physicians to prescribe more expensive drugs.*)
Under
President Clinton, health care costs rise at double the rate of inflation
throughout the 1990s.
During
the 2000s, health care costs continue to rise, and Medicare is seen as
unsustainable.
In
2003, the Medicare Modernization Act added Medicare
Part D to cover prescription drug coverage. It also changed the name
of Medicare Part C to the Medicare
Advantage program. The number of people using those plans tripled
to 17.6 million by 2016. Those costs rose faster than the cost of Medicare
itself.
In 2013,
full nationalization of healthcare was given to us through Obamacare.
And we already know the results of this giant government debacle. [Link]
Physicians
have openly stated that Obamacare
was never about health care, but about achieving another Progressive
goal of massive wealth redistribution.
Our
Loss of Freedom
In 2015,
U.S. health care costs were $3.2 trillion. That makes health care one
of the largest U.S. industries, equaling 17.8 percent of Gross
Domestic Product. Compare that to 1960, when health care only cost
$27.2 billion, just 5 percent of GDP.
“Would
socialized medicine lead to socialization of other phases of life? Vladimir
Lenin thought so when he declared, “Socialized medicine is the
keystone to the arch of the socialist state.”
The
ultimate objective of the Democratic socialists is to nationalize the
entire health care industry of the United States, thus completely taking
over one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Their goal all along has been
to implement a single-payer system, where the federal government alone
collects all fees for health care services, pays all costs, and has complete
control. And sometime down the road under
ObamaCare the government will (control the food) tell you what you can
and can not eat. They are using the Marxist Hegelian
Dialectic to accomplish exactly that.
Prior
to Obamacare, most citizens were happy with their healthcare, other than
the rapidly escalating costs. Claims that US healthcare is substandard
are hogwash. Almost half of those who are now insured are on the Obamacare
Medicaid expansion.
For
an in-depth overview of America’s healthcare, see Discover
the Networks, a Guide to the Political Left.