Well, the dust has settled from the 2010 elections and the Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives and many state legislatures and governorships. In listening to several of the Republican leaders, nationally, they are saying the right things. Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio), the presumptive Speaker of the House stated on Wednesday, the day after the elections, that the Republicans were ready to carry out the will of the people, in contrast to the current administration. Talk is cheap, so let’s see what happens over the next few months.
President Obama has said that he is willing to look at ideas on moving the country forward from all quarters. Of course, he said this soon after he was elected president, then promptly excluded Republicans from all strategy sessions which drafted the Healthcare Reform Bill and the House and Senate leaders barred them from proposing any amendments to the bill.
I saw the results of one exit poll (I don’t know where this exit poll was taken) where voters were asked what should be done about the Healthcare Reform Bill and the responses were:
Repeal it 48%
Expand it 18%
Leave it as is 33%
This result is consistent with recent polls which have consistently indicated that 60-65% of people are not happy with the Healthcare Reform Bill. Two significant points need to be made about this exit poll:
1) Of the 66% who are not happy with the Healthcare Reform Bill, 18% are unhappy because it did go far enough toward a true National healthcare system. This is what has been indicated throughout the recent polls. So the 60% opposed to the healthcare care bill are not all against it, because it takes away freedom. The fact that 51% of voters feel that the Healthcare Reform Bill is OK or not Expansive enough is the real story.
2) This exit poll polled actual voters, not registered or likely voters, so the results more accurately reflect the voting public.
Several states passed amendments or initiatives exempting the state from the mandatory purchase of insurance requirement within the Healthcare Reform Bill. As was previously pointed out, this is more symbolic than enforceable, Federal law still trumps state law. Just ask anyone who has been convicted of marijuana possession on Federal charges, even though their state has legalized marijuana possession.
Editor’s note:
With the national economy still weak, unemployment hovering around 10%, and foreclosures at still very high levels, it is very irresponsible for President Obama to take his very ostentatious trip to India this week. The Presidential entourage has booked the entire 570 room Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai. With the several cargo planes of stuff, staff, and other expenses, this vacation for the president is costing the American taxpayers over $200 million per day. This little vacation for President Obama will cost American taxpayers over ONE BILLION DOLLARS. This is the kind of governmental excesses that the voters rejected on Tuesday. It is this display of arrogance that the American public is rejecting. Our elected officials are supposed to be public servants, not royalty.
This extravagant trip, taken by the President now, when the rest of the country is mired in economic uncertainty is in poor taste. We, the American public deserve better from our elected officials.
It seems like the only news being reported on the Healthcare Reform Bill has been negative lately. This is somewhat surprising since the general elections are only 3 weeks away.
In the news last week was the McDonald’s issue where it was reported that McDonald’s corporation would drop the insurance plans for many of its part-time workers. The Government had already issued a waiver to McDonald’s so that it would have to comply with the mandates within the Healthcare reform Bill. This week it became known that over 30 companies have received waivers, excusing them from complying with the new law. It makes you wonder why the provisions requiring employers to provide insurance was in the bill in the first place.
Many political ads currently running point out that the Healthcare Reform Bill cuts $500 billion out of Medicare funding. While these cuts will financially impact millions of senior citizens, it is important to remember that this figure is a ten year budgetary item, so the impact is not as great as it may appear.
There are also radio commercials running that explain that the insurance premiums that young, healthy people pay are artificially high to compensate for the lower premiums charged to older clients. This is another example of wealth transfer, or socialism embedded within the Healthcare reform bill. Charging healthy people higher premiums than actuarial data would indicate will also remove any incentive to take care of your own health, since most people will rationalize that if I’m already paying more than I should for healthcare insurance, I might as well get my money’s worth. This is not exactly a recipe for lowering healthcare costs in the long run.
Many states have constitutional amendment issues on their ballots this November that will exempt the state from complying with the Federal requirement to purchase healthcare insurance. The consensus is that most of these ballot initiatives will pass, but that they will essentially symbolic. Federal law supersedes state law, so the provision requiring citizens to buy healthcare insurance will not be invalidated by the passage of state laws. But, the protest vote may sway some elected federal officials to listen to the people and support a repeal of the healthcare reform bill, if it comes up for a vote next year.
As the November elections approach, it will be interesting to see how the politicians position themselves on the healthcare reform bill.
You may have already heard the report that McDonald’s was going to have to drop its health insurance coverage next year as a result of the mandates that take affect on January 1st, 2011. You may not have heard the true story that actually occurred concerning this matter.
The truth of the matter is that McDonald’s insurance carrier, BCS Insurance Group, may not have been able to meet the requirement that 80-85% of premiums collected be spent on medical care mandated by the Healthcare Reform Bill. If the insurance carrier can’t meet this requirement, then McDonald’s employees would no longer be able to obtain insurance from this carrier. They would have to buy insurance from a different carrier, or more likely, have to buy insurance from the State run insurance exchange programs. However, the Obama administration has already granted the waiver that BCS requested to continue to offer the McDonald’s plan. The real news story here is that a private company has to ask permission from the government to offer the level of services that it wants to offer.
The story goes on to point out that the minimal plan offered by McDonald’s was capped at $2,000 per year for medical costs, and that a trip to the emergency room would top $2,000 in a matter of minutes. While the story was lambasting the health insurance for such low benefits, they were silent on the outrageous fact that a trip to the emergency room was so expensive. True healthcare reform needs to address the cost and effectiveness of healthcare, not just who pays for it.
There are a growing number of reports that health insurance premiums will be increasing faster than the government originally anticipated. Estimates of yearly increases in the range of 20% are common. The reason most often cited for these large increases are the mandates requiring increased coverage. The only way increased medical coverage can be provided is by raising premiums.
Everyday there are more insurance companies announcing that they will no longer be offering certain healthcare insurance plans to certain groups. Stand alone minor child policies are being discontinued because insurance carriers have to accept children with pre-existing conditions, if they offer any child policies at all. Many insurance carriers are dropping Medicare Advantage programs because of the mandates required by the Healthcare Reform Bill.
McDonalds has announced that it will no longer provide health insurance for its retirees in the future, but will give employees cash to fund their own HSA plans, which will make the retirees responsible for their own health and healthcare expenses. This is a step in the right direction, returning the responsibility of health and healthcare to individuals, not the responsibility of the employer.
Editor’s Note
I was skeptical at first that the ultimate goal of the Healthcare Reform Bill was to eliminate private healthcare insurance companies and cause the public to demand that the government provide healthcare insurance, because the insurance companies were not offering healthcare policies any more. But, as time goes by, it appears that this ‘unintended consequence’ was actually the plan all along.
