Update on ObamaCare Now That it Has Become Law

[Curt - RI]

Dear Policy Patriots,

With every week that passes, we learn more about ObamaCare and it just gets worse.  The recent report on the practical effects of ObamaCare from the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is devastating.

Here are the salient findings of this report:

    * Health care costs will go up, not down. National health expenditures will increase from 17 percent of GDP now to 21 percent under the new law and will be higher than without the legislation. Net federal spending on health care will also increase.

    * Health care shortages are "plausible and even probable." Because of the increased demand for health care, "supply constraints might initially interfere with providing the services desired by the additional 34 million insured persons."

    * 14 million employees will lose their employer coverage. Employees of small firms are especially at risk (despite small employer tax credit subsidies).

    * 2 million employees who lose coverage will have to enroll in Medicaid.

    * A Medicaid insurance card is not a guarantee of care. An estimated 18 million people will be added to Medicaid. However, because there is no corresponding increase in the supply of caregivers, "it is reasonable to expect that a significant portion of the increased demand for Medicaid would be difficult to meet, particularly over the first few years."

    * One in ten insured workers will see their health benefits taxed. By 2019, more than 10% of insured workers will "be in employer plans with benefit values in excess of the thresholds (before changes to reduce benefits) and this percentage would increase rapidly thereafter."

    * Higher taxes will lead to higher premiums. The new taxes on medical devices, prescription drugs, and insurance plans "would generally be passed on through to health consumers in the form of higher drug and device prices and higher insurance premiums."

    * There are more than one-half trillion in Medicare cuts. The new health law cuts "$575 billion" from Medicare.

    * Medicare cuts would threaten almost one in every seven hospitals. About "15 percent of Part A providers would become unprofitable within the 10-year projection period."

    * Overall access to care for seniors would go down. Because of the law's payment reductions, "providers for whom Medicare constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find it difficult to remain profitable and, absent legislative intervention, might end their participation in the program.

    * 7.4 million people will lose access to Medicare Advantage plans. Enrollment in MA plans will be cut in half (from its projected level of 14.8 million under the current law to 7.4 million under the new law).

    * False advertising: The new "Medicare Tax" doesn't go to Medicare. "Despite the title of this tax, this provision is unrelated to Medicare; in particular, the revenues generated by the tax on unearned income are not allocated to the Medicare trust funds."

    * False advertising: Budgetary double-counting does not improve Medicare's solvency. Medicare cuts "cannot be simultaneously used to finance other federal outlays (such as the coverage expansions) and to extend the [life of the Medicare] trust fund, despite the appearance of this result from the respective accounting conventions."

    * The new long-term care insurance plan (CLASS Act) is unsound. The program faces "a significant risk of failure" because the high costs will attract sicker people and lead to low participation.

    * The promise to those with pre-existing conditions is unfunded. "By 2011 and 2012 the initial $5 billion in Federal funding for [high risk pools] would be exhausted, resulting in substantial premium increases to sustain the program."

    * The law does almost nothing to limit actual fraud and abuse. The fraud provisions in the law will save only about two percent of $47 billion in suspect claims.

The National Center for Policy Analysis is committed to leading the fight against ObamaCare and in favor of patient-centered health policy reforms. Our policy solutions are only possible with your support.  Please consider donating to the National Center for Policy Analysis.  You can donate online or mail a check to:
     
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[PING JOCKEY]

Thank God for "change".  It is my opinion that liberalism will destroy this country, I think this might be the lesson that we learn the hard way.

[lexbassbuzzin]

Not sure if anyone caught the interview with Al Sharpton just after the vote, but the newscaster wanted his opinion about this new bill. Sharpton talked about how people wanted "change" when they voted for President Obama and they voted for "Socialism". I'm sure Sharpton got a pleasant phone call the next day from someone in the Administration.

Not far from the truth.

[Curt - RI]

I didn't catch the interview but we need more people to keep speaking out like this so people will know what they actually voted for when they voted for Obama.

I said it before and I will keep saying it... he is the most radical president this country has had. Unfortunately, It's in a completely negative way.

[muddywaters]

Never mind I am staying out of this

[Curt - RI]

Never mind I am staying out of this

he he

[bless]

  I could just as easily find some report in a state that isnt as butt backwards as Texas that refutes every one of those points.  Would you rather have had Georgie Porgie and more financial meltdown, endless money spending & lives lost on Wars?  I dont think that asministration was very good either.  Europe seems to be doing just fine with Socialism.  (not that im for it, im just saying).

[bless]

and how come all the people against the auto bail out havent come forward and told GM that they were wrong & it actually worked?  You know, since GM has already paid back the money they were given, with interest, 5 years early?  Funny how you dont hear anyone on the right congratulating them....

[lexbassbuzzin]

IMHO I think the whole financial meltdown started when the Glass-Steagall Act (which was enacted in the early '30's to regulate the banking system) and was repealed in 1999 enabling financial institutions to do both commercial & investment banking unregulated. The latter buying and selling mortgage backed securities which were known to fail as a credit default swap.

[Curt - RI]

I think it's great that GM has pulled themselves up out of the debt they were in.

I have mixed feelings about the whole auto bailout. I do not, however, feel that the banks and other crooked companies out there should have been bailed out.

As for Bush, his administration had flaws.. they all do. Not a single president has ever been perfect. And yes.. there were many innocent lives lost in Iraq. I'm not saying I am in agreement with that either.

My main gripe is with Obama's policies. He wants to take from those that have, and give it to those who don't have. And some of his administration are the worst liars to come down the pike in years (Pelosi and Reid, for example). Not that every other administration hasn't had plenty of liars, but Pelosi and Reid are some of the worst.

Obama is the most liberal president this country has ever had.. period.

Let me ask you a question. Whether you agree with abortion or not, do you want your hard-earned dollars paying for an abortion, for someone you don't even know? Maybe even for someone who isn't even in this country legally. You work hard for your money just like I do. Not a single penny of that money should be used to kill an unborn baby. But that will be happening now that Obamacare is law.

I know people who live in socialist countries. I hae talked with them. They have told me about the health care horror stories. It's not pretty and it doesn't work well at all.

One of my friends in Canada told me that the income tax there is horrendous. Once your income passes the $100,000 per year mark, you lose 50% of it to income tax. So tell me where the incentive is to work hard to prosper and succeed in business. And please understand that this guy wasn't blowing smoke. He makes huge money each year and has had to pay hundreds of thousands each year in income tax.

I spoke with another person who told me of the problems his father had just getting surgery on his knees. Because his problem wasn't "urgent" he kept getting slid to the bottom of the waiting list. This went on, literally, for years before he was able to have it done.

Just take a look at countries like Russia, China and others like them. Their people are mostly poor. Most of them would give their right arm to be able to come to a democratic country like ours.

So in my opinion, socialism is garbage and it doesn't belong here in this country.

Now, does that mean that I won't be friends with or hang out with people who voted for Obama or support his policies? Not at all. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. You all are and so am I. We can hang here and talk fishing and have good time. Some of us even go fishing together. That's what this place is all about. We can express our opinions and then set them aside when it comes to fishing. So I hope nobody takes what I say offensively. It isn't intended to be offensive toward anyone. And I don't take what anyone else says offensively, as long as it isn't directed toward me personally. 

[muddywaters]

Curt; very simple Check Your Sources, that fact sheet you started this with, it is from a questionable " Think tank for free enterprise"These folks put out the same kind of bullet facts ( ACTUALLY BULL poop THEORIES) about the Bush/Obama Bail out
Which is now 7 months ahead of itself and the rebound is even staggering the economists over at  the Ivy League Schools.
 So lets cut all our leaders some slack, we were on the brink opf a terrible depression, of which they were p[artially to blame
 You should know I voted for our current president and worked on his campaigan

Also I lived in Italy for a year and spent much time playing in Canada as a professional musican in times gone past, their system of medicine was excellent and not far from where we may be headed

  This is my only political response, I am not upset that we have differences of opinion I am upset about how people post these BS Fact sheets and everyone takes it as gospel,

[Curt - RI]

Curt; very simple Check Your Sources...

  This is my only political response, I am not upset that we have differences of opinion I am upset about how people post these BS Fact sheets and everyone takes it as gospel,

Thanks for the response. I appreciate you're objectivity and honesty!

I will admit that I spend very little time reading news sites or following up on a lot of these items that get passed around. I have better things to do with my time So my research is limited, at best.

I simply don't agree with Obama and his policies. I am against abortion, whether paid for with private funds or govt. funds. Obama supports it in any situation, at all costs.

I am also against the government getting involved in everything that goes on. Too much government control is never good, in my opinion. Obama supports it.

I'm not against people immigrating to this country. I am, however, against them doing it illegally and then the taxpayers having to support them. Again, Obama is on the opposite side of the spectrum on this.

Just my opinion.

[lexbassbuzzin]

My main gripe is with Obama's policies. He wants to take from those that have, and give it to those who don't have. And some of his administration are the worst liars to come down the pike in years (Pelosi and Reid, for example). Not that every other administration hasn't had plenty of liars, but Pelosi and Reid are some of the worst.

Not far from what will happen!

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but he had recently failed an entire class! The class, as a whole, had insisted that Obama's socialism worked, and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.The students who studied hard were upset and, naturally, the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less, and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride, too, so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! Of course no one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F!

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings, and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, nobody will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler thant that.

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.  

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.  

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."    


Adrian Rogers, 1931

[muddywaters]

Thanks Curt, now thats it for me on politics. I have seen to have  Found  a forum I can actually get along in, my own internet behavior has been horrible, and in order for me to stay on point i need to stay away from things like this and stick to Food,Music,Women,Fishing,Nearly Naked Women,baseball and Naked Women

[LANSKY]

Naked women!!!!!
I knew this post would come around.  Not big on political discussions but
when naked women enter the equation you have my full attention.
Here is my 2 cents, naked women are the best kind.   lol