Friday, July 2, 2010

To Obama on Health Care: "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.."

Remember the health care so-called "reform" bill that was signed into law in March? Yes, that one, which will force you, under the threat of fines and jail time and IRS on top of you, to buy health insurance from the government-created so-called "exchange" because health care is your right (they take you for a fool don't they).

Remember the promise that Obama made? No one will be turned away from obtaining the insurance?

A bloody lie.

Health law risks turning away sick (7/1/2010 The Hill)

"The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from an insurance program created by the new healthcare law to provide coverage for the uninsured.

"Critics of the $5 billion high-risk pool program insist it will run out of money before Jan. 1, 2014. That’s when the program sunsets and health plans can no longer discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.

"Administration officials insist they can make changes to the program to ensure it lasts until 2014, and that it may not have to turn away sick people. Officials said the administration could also consider reducing benefits under the program, or redistributing funds between state pools. But they acknowledged turning some people away was also a possibility.

"Healthcare experts of all stripes warned during the healthcare debate that $5 billion would likely not last until 2014. Millions of Americans cannot find affordable healthcare because of their pre-existing conditions, and that amount would only cover a couple hundred thousand people, according to a recent study by the chief Medicare actuary." [The article continues.]

A couple hundred thousand people.

But not to worry. You may not be able to afford to participate in this government program anyway, as the monthly premiums are rather high. Richard Popper, deputy director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at HHS readily admits that "many people won’t be able to afford to participate in the program since premiums will range between about $140 and $900 a month, depending on applicants’ age and where they live."

He continues:

“There are a significant number of people out there with pre-existing conditions who are uninsured, but a significant number of those people ... also have limited income. And some of them, while they may need this plan, the premiums may not be something they can afford.

“We have that to think about as well,” he added. “But for those who can afford it, this is going to be a great, great plan.”


Uh huh. I'm sure it's a great plan, particularly when lawmakers and bureaucrats don't need to participate. They have "to think about" that..? What have they been doing all along?

So people with pre-existing condition may need this plan, but cannot afford the premiums, and the puny $5 billion fund is likely to run out sooner than planned. What happens then, between that and 2014?

It looks like we will have a sort of "death panel" after all.

Nullify. Just nullify.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

One Question: Is there a limit on how much Insurance companies can charge. For instance, could they charge some one with a pre-existing condition 1 million per month for coverage?

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

I don't know if there's a cap on premiums under the new law, if they ever get enacted. (I'm still hoping for a miracle.) But in a free market, insurance companies should be free to charge whatever they want. If there's no taker for $1M per month premium, they either don't offer such product or lower the premium until they have a buyer.

The way I see it is that the government meddling, no matter what the intention is, ends up in distorting the market, often guaranteeing an absurd pricing like that. Look no further than Medicare prescription drug pricing.

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