Obamacare continues to hurt people. I collected a number of stories from the last month or so for the wrap-up to help you keep up the fight for repeal. Americans are still forgoing necessary care and struggling with their healthcare bills – AFTER 6 years of Obamacare. The premium spikes have an added cost – taxpayers will be on the hook for $10 billion more next year for increased tax credit subsidies. Higher premiums produce higher subsidies, and round and round she goes. The individual mandate penalty – which I have renamed the Shared Stupidity Payment in honor of Jonathan Gruber – will be more than $2,000 for some folks for 2017. Some millennials are facing a choice between paying the fine and taking a big hit to their income, or buying insurance and having next to no income at all. GAO testers were able to get Obamacare with fake identities – AGAIN. The Maryland Obamacare co-op bit the dust. There are only four left. Genius. Sheer genius.
In addition to continuing to bring you the bad news about Obamacare every day as the clock winds down on this terrible law, I mentioned before that I would speak out when I see things going off the track.
I’ve spoken previously about the problems associated with partial repeal, or ‘Obamacare-lite’ as some people call it. If you keep the provision requiring insurers to cover preexisting conditions, you’re setting yourself up for the same failure, the same insurance death spiral that Obamacare is falling into. The idea – called guaranteed issue – was tried in a handful of states before Obamacare, and failed in every one of them. I’m putting a recent story in the wrap-up about the failure of guaranteed issue in Washington State. The Truth Squad wants total repeal, not Obamacare-lite.
There is another problem with the way things are shaping up. The House GOP is talking about guaranteeing ‘universal access’ to healthcare. There are at least two things wrong with this. First, the notion that the federal government is supposed to be responsible for everybody’s healthcare is unsustainable because it breaches the basic principle of individual responsibility. Individual responsibility is the only principle that’s sustainable in the long run. Second, universal access is the wrong direction. It moves the ball down the field toward socialism. Once universality is established by law and uncontested by any major party, all the Left has to do is keep growing it until we have full-blown socialized medicine.
Finally, the Republicans have loaded the Obamacare repeal resolution up with other stuff – defunding Planned Parenthood and adding trillions of dollars in new spending. Senator Rand Paul voted against the repeal resolution this week to protest the new spending, saying the national debt threatens the very foundation of the country. So we just lost one vote for repealing Obamacare. The Republicans appear to be milking the repeal moment for all it’s worth, but I worry they’re being too clever by half.
You may not agree with my opinions on these matters, but at the very least I have drawn big red circles around important issues for you to think about.
Finally, a shout-out to Worcester Tea Party in Massachusetts – thank you for retweeting our Truth Squad tweets.
Links
Americans forgoing necessary care! Struggling with health bills! Oh, wait. This is AFTER 6 years of Obamacare.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2016/12/13/obamacare/95410766/
Rate hikes will cost taxpayers $10 billion for increased subsidies in 2017. #RoundAndRoundSheGoes
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/study-premium-hikes-add-10b-to-taxpayers-health-law-tab-1.12760808
Obamacare penalty/tax/fine Shared Stupidity Payment will climb as high as $2,085 for 2017.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/18/obamacare-penalty-for-2017.html
Millennial’s Dilemma – pay the fine and take a big hit or buy insurance and have no income at all.
http://www.ydr.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/11/10/whom-may-offend-m-millennial-notwithher-column/93583706/
Testers still able to get Obamacare plans with fake identities, documents
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/24868-auditors-get-obamacare-insurance-with-fake-identities-documents
Off-exchange insurance unexpectedly popular despite cost. Why? Because you can keep your doctor for real.
http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/why-millions-of-americans-are-paying-extra-to-avoid-obamacare/
Survey: people want hospitalization and drug coverage, not ACA’s ‘essential health benefits’. What do they know?
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/survey-consumers-want-fewer-mandatory-health-insurance-benefits-2183179.htm
Only 4 Obamacare co-ops left as Maryland bites the dust. 9,000 Marylanders spending holidays looking for new plan.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/12/repealing-itself-only-four-of-24-obamacare-exchanges-remain-open/
Arkansas program on “unsustainable path” after Medicaid expansion; cuts loom
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/dec/16/report-ok-d-to-put-brakes-on-medicaid-2-1/?news-arkansas
Reid: ‘People r gonna DIE if ACA repealed.’ Tell it to Frank, Julie & Linda. Oh, they’re already DEAD b/c of ACA.
http://dailysignal.com/2016/12/15/fearmongering-harry-reid-spewing-lies-about-obamacare/
Experience of Washington State shows you can’t have preexisting condition coverage w/o an individual mandate
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-health-care-plan-has-already-been-tried-it-was-a-disaster/2017/01/05/161afdd4-d364-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.56a92fd9f16f
GOP mulling partial repeal Obamacare-Lite, but insurance markets will continue to fall apart.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2016/12/20/editorial-settle-partial-obamacare-repeal/95629730/
Rand Paul: partial repeal leaving insurer death spiral in place is a preventable disaster
http://rare.us/story/rand-paul-repeal-all-of-obamacare-and-replace-immediately/
House GOP to guarantee ‘universal access’ making fed gov’t responsible for everyone’s healthcare. #WrongDirection
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/us/politics/paul-ryan-affordable-care-act-repeal.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=1
Sen. Rand Paul voted against Obamacare repeal to protest trillions in new spending
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/04/sen-rand-paul-using-obamacare-repeal-protest-debt/96167076/