This is the reality of Obamacare. Its wildly unpopular for the masses but irresistible for those on the receiving end of the money grab.
It has been federal law for three years. It has brought chaos to the labor markets. It has cost people their livelihoods and it is more unpopular than ever.
So why does Obamacare" (officially known as the Affordable Care Act") remain so irresistible for so many of our fellow Americans? Because at its core Obamacare is not about health care so much as it is about the redistribution of wealth and for those who are on the receiving end of the redistribution the agenda is completely irresistible.
When the federal government doles-out cash its difficult to say no." Thats why many of our nations top business consulting firms are cashing-in as state government officials hire the consulting firms to figure out how to set up the new federal health care bureaucracies complete with their own state-specific websites and call centers.
How difficult and costly could it be do you suppose to set up a website and a call center for the residents of one individual state? In the world of private enterprise most small to midsize companies doing business within a specific region of the U.S. would be foolish to spend much more than a hundred thousand dollars for their customer service website and the infrastructure for a call center and in many cases the project could be completed for much less.
But with Obamacare the customer service" element has become more of a corporate welfare" element. Companies careers and personal fortunes are being made by people who are " the states as firms bill the individual states millions of taxpayer dollars for the website and call center set-ups (and the Obama administration frequently offers to reimburse the states for the set-up costs).
Take for example a company called Leavitt Partners LLC. Founded by the former Republican Governor of Utah (and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services) Michael Leavitt the company describes itself as a healthcare intelligence business" and is focused solely on state-by-state Obamacare compliance (they have already completed Utahs insurance exchange start-up).
Were talking here about Michael Leavitt the former Utah Governor who last year endorsed and campaigned on behalf of Mitt Romney the presidential candidate who pledged to end" Obamacare. Yes that Michael Leavitt is making millions advising the states on how to comply with the monstrosity that his pal Mitt wanted to eliminate.
How much money is in play for these companies? Consider that last fall representatives from Leavitts company traveled north and proposed to build an exchange for their tiny nieghboring state of Idaho a state with a population of less than 1.7 million people. Once the Leavitt representatives unveiled their proposed price tag to build an exchange - $70 million-an incredulous member of Idahos state insurance task force asked does Governor Leavitt really believe that this is a good idea?"
Company associate Brett Graham replied with the nuanced explanation that Governor Leavitt doesnt like the feds dictating to the states" however the Governor also believes that the states should stand inside the circle with the feds rather than stand outside of it"- which was an artful way of saying yes Governor Leavitt likes this and wants to get paid to show you how to do it."
Leavitts proposal was not the most expensive that the sparsely populated Idaho received. The global accounting and consulting firm KPMG weighed-in with a price tag of $77 million and when a state official asked what the residents of Idaho would get in return for such a large expenditure KPMG representative Andrew Gottschalk was vague: Its hard to explain exactly what you get…Its hardware its software theres infrastructure theres people and staffing" he stated. There would likely be a call center. Its all kinds of things… theres a lot of stuff….but its hard to be specific."
States spending millions of taxpayer dollars and receiving all kinds of things" and a lot of stuff" in return. Thats our present-day reality with Obamacare. Along with Leavitt Partners and KPMG global consulting firms Maximus and Mercer are also cashing-in. These firms employ well educated highly skilled professionals with JDs MBAs and advanced degrees in information systems and healthcare management most of whom would undoubtedly reject the idea that they are welfare recipients. As the Maximus corporate website states we leverage our extensive experience and strong commitment to ethics to provide high quality services and solutions."
Along with the Obamacare cash thats flowing in to private consultants accounts theres the money thats being handed-out to state and county governments under the auspice of Medicaid expansion. A key component of Obamacare was to have mandated that the individual states reduce eligibility requirements for Medicaid and expand the number of participants in their respective programs. However the United States Supreme Court overturned that component of the Obamacare law so expansion of Medicaid is an elective choice for each of the states.
But not to worry the President has made the expansion of the federal Medicaid welfare program irresistible as the Administration is offering to pay 100 of the expansion costs for the first three years for states that agree to the expansion this year. Thats why for example New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who has refused to allow an Obamacare insurance exchange in his state nonetheless agreed to the Medicaid expansion when you can get the feds to pay for peoples free" healthcare that alleviates the state and county agencies from paying for it. It creates an addiction to federal spending but if youre in charge of a state or federal agency it makes sense on some level.
This is the reality of Obamacare. Its wildly unpopular for the masses but irresistible for those on the receiving end of the money grab.