It seems like only yesterday that Democrat lawmakers unilaterally passed the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare. At the time it was a widely unpopular law that was sold to the American people on false promises. It deprived countless individuals of their existing health insurance policies and their preferred doctors. Its oppressive regulations stifled economic growth and it did nothing to reduce healthcare costs. Since Obamacare was passed average insurance premiums have nearly doubled. Now Democrats have decided to take another bite of the apple. Leading up to last weeks election they again campaigned on the promise of affordable healthcare for everyone. In fact Nancy Pelosi argues that Democrats won the House because from the beginning" they focused on healthcare.
During President Trumps post-election news conference one reporter asked a question about the Republican plan for healthcare. In view of last years repeal of Obamacares individual mandate he wanted to know how pre-existing conditions can be covered without the revenue generated by the mandate.
That particular provision in Obamacare has always been the most controversial the most onerous. It imposed heavy financial burdens on employers and on individuals who had no interest in purchasing health insurance. It had for the first time in the history of our country required every citizen to purchase something health insurance. The cost of that insurance or the alternative penalty fee was ruled to be a lawful government tax only by the narrowest margin in the Supreme Court. But as that reporter suggested it was also an essential element of Obamacare. It was needed to fund the additional costs of insuring those with pre-existing conditions.
But insuring" is not really the right word. Insurance" is defined as coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril." Like all capitalistic enterprises health insurance companies sprang up to fill a consumer need while at the same time putting millions to work and generating profit for stockholders. They offered consumers a free-market solution to skyrocketing medical costs by charging premiums and paying benefits to the insured parties when they became sick or injured. Profit could only be assured by setting those premiums according to actuarial formulas that consider variables like age health and lifestyle of the insured. By requiring private companies to cover health issues that already exist Obamacare changed the very definition of insurance. Democrats had once again succeeded in redefining a fundamental concept long accepted by our society.
Regarding that question about pre-existing conditions none of the reporters in Barack Obamas doting press corps ever asked this obvious question In a free-market system how can any insurance company survive if the state requires it to insure against something that has already happened?"
As a country we survived even thrived for nearly 200 years without a national healthcare program. Now over a relatively short time span nearly everyone has come to agree that all Americans must be provided with some form of healthcare.
But Democrats want much more than that. Theyre not really interested in the free market solutions or in health insurance. The election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the re-election of Bernie Sanders and others on the far left suggests that this new socialistic Democratic Party will work harder than ever to implement a single-payer plan euphemistically called Medicare for all. Ultimately what they want is socialized medicine. Under such a plan pre-existing conditions" would have no meaning and everyone in the country would receive the same Spartan-to-mediocre medical care that citizens in socialist countries endure. Those who contribute to the system would get the very same benefits as those who cannot or will not pay anything. The millions who regularly inhale ingest or inject various poisons into their bodies would get the same care afforded to health-conscious individuals. Those millions who are in this country illegally would also receive the same care.
And quality issues aside the cost of such a plan would be staggering. Earlier this year a proposed single-payer health care plan for North Carolina was scrapped when cost estimates came in at around $70 billion for that state alone nearly twice the states budget.
We would all like every man woman and child in America to be guaranteed the best quality healthcare in the world. That would truly be Utopia. But someone would have to pay the astronomical cost of such a program. The combined wealth of George Soros Tom Steyer the Clintons the Hollywood elites and all those wealthy liberals who want it they cant afford Utopia. The top one percent cant pay for it. And we could not afford it even if we expanded our tax base to include the more than 70 million Americans and the vast numbers of illegal aliens who pay no income tax.
But through reasonable taxation funding government programs like CHIP Medicaid and Medicare along with countless charitable organizations America has long provided basic health care for nearly everyone citizen in the country. That system can always be improved. Eight years ago Democrats reneged on their healthcare promises while penalizing millions of hard-working citizens who had been content with their long-held health insurance policies. Now they seem poised to eliminate the entire insurance industry by socializing Americas healthcare system.
It seems like only yesterday that Democrat lawmakers unilaterally passed the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare. At the time it was a widely unpopular law that was sold to the American people on false promises. It deprived countless individuals of their existing health insurance policies and their preferred doctors. Its oppressive regulations stifled economic growth and it did nothing to reduce healthcare costs. Since Obamacare was passed average insurance premiums have nearly doubled. Now Democrats have decided to take another bite of the apple. Leading up to last weeks election they again campaigned on the promise of affordable healthcare for everyone. In fact Nancy Pelosi argues that Democrats won the House because from the beginning" they focused on healthcare.
During President Trumps post-election news conference one reporter asked a question about the Republican plan for healthcare. In view of last years repeal of Obamacares individual mandate he wanted to know how pre-existing conditions can be covered without the revenue generated by the mandate.
That particular provision in Obamacare has always been the most controversial the most onerous. It imposed heavy financial burdens on employers and on individuals who had no interest in purchasing health insurance. It had for the first time in the history of our country required every citizen to purchase something health insurance. The cost of that insurance or the alternative penalty fee was ruled to be a lawful government tax only by the narrowest margin in the Supreme Court. But as that reporter suggested it was also an essential element of Obamacare. It was needed to fund the additional costs of insuring those with pre-existing conditions.
But insuring" is not really the right word. Insurance" is defined as coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril." Like all capitalistic enterprises health insurance companies sprang up to fill a consumer need while at the same time putting millions to work and generating profit for stockholders. They offered consumers a free-market solution to skyrocketing medical costs by charging premiums and paying benefits to the insured parties when they became sick or injured. Profit could only be assured by setting those premiums according to actuarial formulas that consider variables like age health and lifestyle of the insured. By requiring private companies to cover health issues that already exist Obamacare changed the very definition of insurance. Democrats had once again succeeded in redefining a fundamental concept long accepted by our society.
Regarding that question about pre-existing conditions none of the reporters in Barack Obamas doting press corps ever asked this obvious question In a free-market system how can any insurance company survive if the state requires it to insure against something that has already happened?"
As a country we survived even thrived for nearly 200 years without a national healthcare program. Now over a relatively short time span nearly everyone has come to agree that all Americans must be provided with some form of healthcare.
But Democrats want much more than that. Theyre not really interested in the free market solutions or in health insurance. The election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the re-election of Bernie Sanders and others on the far left suggests that this new socialistic Democratic Party will work harder than ever to implement a single-payer plan euphemistically called Medicare for all. Ultimately what they want is socialized medicine. Under such a plan pre-existing conditions" would have no meaning and everyone in the country would receive the same Spartan-to-mediocre medical care that citizens in socialist countries endure. Those who contribute to the system would get the very same benefits as those who cannot or will not pay anything. The millions who regularly inhale ingest or inject various poisons into their bodies would get the same care afforded to health-conscious individuals. Those millions who are in this country illegally would also receive the same care.
And quality issues aside the cost of such a plan would be staggering. Earlier this year a proposed single-payer health care plan for North Carolina was scrapped when cost estimates came in at around $70 billion for that state alone nearly twice the states budget.
We would all like every man woman and child in America to be guaranteed the best quality healthcare in the world. That would truly be Utopia. But someone would have to pay the astronomical cost of such a program. The combined wealth of George Soros Tom Steyer the Clintons the Hollywood elites and all those wealthy liberals who want it they cant afford Utopia. The top one percent cant pay for it. And we could not afford it even if we expanded our tax base to include the more than 70 million Americans and the vast numbers of illegal aliens who pay no income tax.
But through reasonable taxation funding government programs like CHIP Medicaid and Medicare along with countless charitable organizations America has long provided basic health care for nearly everyone citizen in the country. That system can always be improved. Eight years ago Democrats reneged on their healthcare promises while penalizing millions of hard-working citizens who had been content with their long-held health insurance policies. Now they seem poised to eliminate the entire insurance industry by socializing Americas healthcare system.