Skip to main content

Unaffordable Care Act

Is there anyone left that realistically believes that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act aka "Obamacare" was truly about getting healthcare for Americans that do not have it? I would hope not, but I am sure there are. I understand the lure and appeal of getting everyone in the country healthcare coverage, I truly do. From a humanitarian perspective it is a no-brainer. Who could argue that everyone should have the access to care when they are sick or injured? Why should anyone in the richest country in the world suffer needlessly or possibly die when proper medical care could prevent it? The problem I have with this is the way in which the government/administration decided to handle it.

The number of people without healthcare in this country is subject to a lot of debate as well as discussion over how that number is determined. There are a lot of young adults that are usually included in any number given that although not insured are so due to their own choice. My two youngest are in this group. Both do not have health insurance. They have both had it offered through their employers at various jobs but choose not to allocate their money towards it. Any care they have needed has been handled at urgent care centers or hospital emergency rooms. As 20-somethings healthcare fears that strike fear into the hearts of us older folks are not a reality for them. So be it. Also included in the number of people that do not have healthcare are illegals and their children (who may or may not be legal). The range I have seen in researching this number is from a low of under 20 million to a high of 50 million. A very common number given, and one that just happens to be in the middle of the above two extremes, is 35 million. For the purposes of this discussion we will use that number.

My opening "provocative" statement shows my doubt that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (to be from here on referred to as the ACA) was primarily about getting healthcare coverage for those millions without it. I really don't see how anyone could argue the point. Here is why I feel that way -

1) the agencies and programs to handle the issue already existed - The VA administration, Medicare, and Medicaid were and are already set up and providing healthcare to veterans, poor, and the elderly. The infrastructure (admittedly needing work, but that is a subject of another discussion) exists. It would have just needed to be expanded. Everyone that coverage needed to be provided for either already did, or could have fallen into one of these agencies with a little reclassification and regulation.

2) I know Congress has a great ability to complicate anything. However, thousands of pages of law and regulations is overkill. (this is one of those areas that is subject to great hyperbole - I have heard 11,000, 20,000, and up to 32,000 pages - I have pretty much confirmed that the law and regulations contain many, many more words than the Bible) It almost guarantees that at sometime anyone runs the risk of being in violation of the law. It also guarantees that no one will ever fully grasp what exactly is going on. This, to me, is the scariest part of the law. A government official can now tell a hospital, doctor, and/or citizen that they are in violation of the law and need to do such and such to be in compliance. This is way too much power. It is similar to the existing problem today with our federal tax codes. I personally have had a tax issue that I have put before a CPA and gotten one answer. Then I put it before the IRS answer people and got another answer. I then called the IRS help people and got a third answer. When I told the last guy and my CPA that they just said -"the law is complicated and subject to interpretation". I told him I did not think that would work in a court of law as my defense. I see the same issues coming up here. A cynic might say this is on purpose to allow the government to come in at some point and get absolute control with a single payer government run system.

3) With over half a Billion dollars spent on the website (that does not work) and almost $50 Billion dollars allocated (and surely to be spent - almost half has been so far) for promotion and education.
The money spent that does not have any aspect whatever to do with healthcare makes all of this smack of the cronyism that permeates most legislation these days. If this money had been put into the agencies I mentioned in #1, I feel a lot more would have been accomplished in the name of healthcare.

4) Even the most optimistic projections I have seen show tens of millions of people still not having healthcare at the end of 2014. I have actually seen a figure as high as 35 million - look familiar? The lowest number I have seen is 10 million plus. So, just the $50 billion allocated for education and promotion could have come close to getting the same number (25 million) of people covered with insurance, or close for the same period.

I will not get into the new IRS agencies and reporting that the bill and regulations call for. (FYI, this too has been subject to a lot of hyperbole with the "16,000 new IRS agents" claims that have been thrown around - not true as much as I can tell - probably more like 1,600) Also, the regulations and reporting that medical personnel will have to deal with and navigate through are a problem I mentioned somewhat in #2, but I will not cover in detail except to say that none of that serves patient needs any better. The extra taxes and fees that will be assessed on medical equipment providers and other medical companies is a drain on services and money. As a libertarian, I am greatly worried about the increase in power, complication, and structure of the government. That is actually my biggest concern.

Back to my opening remarks. Although I admitted that the humanitarian aspect of offering healthcare to any and all is appealing and understandable, the problem is cost. Who pays for it? Do we pay for the person that is morbidly obese when they have a heart attack? Do we pay for the meth-head when the OD and are dropped at the ER by their friends? How about the diabetic that eats the ice cream and cake because they want some and know they can just shoot some extra insulin? There is a cost to this that is real. There are personal responsibilities to healthcare that cannot be regulated. All of this is not handled by the knee-jerk feel-good response to the "right" to healthcare.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Who's got gas?

Here is another thing that is bothering me - I am tired of people whining about gas prices. Gas was never free!! When people whine about "$40 to fill my tank" they forget that even at $2 a gallon it was $25 or so to fill it!! Here are some numbers: The average car in the U.S. is driven about 12,000 miles a year. If you get 20 MPG (hey if you are driving a Hummer, getting 10, I don't want to hear it!) That is 600 gallons of gas a year. Most people would be estatic if gas was at $2 a gallon again -SO, that is about $600 a year (for the extra $1 a gallon) or $11.54 a week. Now I know there are a LOT of folks that were struggling to pay the $2, but the average person I know was not. Here is another way to look at it. How many Starbuck's coffees or lattes have you had lately at $$37.33 a gallon? ($3.50 for a 12 oz one) How about a beer on an airplane at $53.33 a gallon? ($5 per) Then there is bottled water at $10.66 a gallon. ($1 a 12oz bottle -and it can be MUCH higher...

Our Guv'ment

Section 8 - Powers of Congress The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises , to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and Post Roads ; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings a...

Fame is Fleeting and some bug stuff

Well I am writing this from the scene of one of my latest moments of glory - the Comfort Suites in Colonial Heights, Va. For those of you that do not take notes of all my achievements - that was the hotel where I was (drum roll please - ) Guest of the Day about a month ago. I drove up (and parked in the Platinum Elite member space - I might add) gathered my goodies and headed in. I thought of pulling a hat down over my head and putting my collar up to hide from the photographers and autograph fans, but I had no hat and the crowds just were not really a problem. I ambled to the front desk and it was the same girl! Surely here the recognition would reign! But as I approached her I glanced to the reader board - the same reader board that not so long ago was praising me as Guest of the Day! I staggered a bit under the realization that there was another name on MY sign! Then it hit me - Guest of the Day! I had lived my glorious 24 hours and now it was time to move on. OH WOE IS ME. I curse ...