Its frightening that there are so many people in Washington willing to completely ignore the Constitution in the process of pushing this nightmare legislation. Progressives will stop at nothing, even their career in politics, to force the nationalization of the health care industry. Government has already thrown a monkey wrench in the system through Medicare and Medicaid, which causes us all to pay more for everything health related. Now they want it all. If you control the $$$ in health care, you can control every decision a citizen makes in the name of "controlling costs."
But the only way it cuts cost is by restricting access and denying care. This is about control, creating more Government/Democrat/union jobs and making more people even more dependent on government, guaranteeing Democrats power for the next several decades.
We don't have to look far to see the failure of government run systems since virtually every country suffers under some form of socialized medicine. There is a reason the well-to-do in those parts travel to the states for timely, and safe surgeries. But we don't even have to go that far for evidence, we can simply look at Massachusetts for a preview of what is to come. They passed the affectionately called Romneycare, named after the former "Republican" governor Mitt Romney.
They had hoped to lower costs, insure everyone, while maintaining high standards of care. The results as found in the Wall Street Journal:
- 140,000 remained uninsured in 2008.
- A family of 4 spends on average more than $13,000 in insurance premiums, 27% higher than the national average.
- Insurance companies are required to sell "just-in-time" policies, meaning you can wait until you need surgery and buy a policy. Needless to say, many people are taking advantage of the system and driving up premiums in the process.
- As one would expect in a socialized system, physicians are quitting the business, moving or restricting access. 56% of internal medicine doctors are not taking new patients. 44 days is the average wait for an appointment.
- Emergency room visits have jumped by 7%. If you can't see a doctor, where do you go? You guessed it, the emergency room, and this only increases the cost for everyone else.
Obamacare proponents claim that it will only increase the deficit by $900 Billion over 10 years. I call shenanigans. First off, whatever program comes out of Washington, multiply it by a factor of at least 10 and you might be close. This will be a budget buster of epic proportions. Taxes start immediately, while benefits don't kick in until 2014. But I thought Obama claimed that thousands were dying every day because of lack of health insurance? Why wait for 4 years to implement? What part does election year politics play in delaying Obamacare implementation until after Obama's run in 2012? Inquiring minds want to know.
And in the irony of ironies, it will still leave several million uninsured. Wasn't that the reason for the stampede to nationalization in the first place!? You could take a fraction of the above amount and buy private health insurance for all the so-called uninsured in America. Why was that not even considered?
What are the alternatives? I'm glad you asked.
Indiana offers Health Savings Accounts (which would be illegal under Obamacare) to state employees. 70% Have chosen this option, bringing health related costs down by 11%. Click on the link to see what a free market solution might look like.
Tort Reform in Texas and other states reduce the use of defensive medicine, spur economic growth and reduce cost. There are no provisions in Obamacare for Tort reform.
These are just two of many proposals that should be tested in all 50 states to determine the best direction to go. Testing various proposals in 50 states seems far more sensible than a government takeover of the best health care system in the world.
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