Americans must now buy bad health insurance policies - even if they don't need them.

[Saffire]

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/capitalhill.htm

 

 

20 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms

By David Hogberg

Sun., March 21, '10 3:24 PM ET

 

 

With House Democrats poised to pass the Senate health care bill with some reconciliation changes later today, it is worthwhile to take a comprehensive look at the freedoms we will lose.

 

Of course, the overhaul is supposed to provide us with security. But it will result in skyrocketing insurance costs and physicians leaving the field in droves, making it harder to afford and find medical care. We may be about to live Benjamin Franklin’s adage, “People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.”

 

The sections described below are taken from HR 3590 as agreed to by the Senate and from the reconciliation bill as displayed by the Rules Committee.

 

1. You are young and don’t want health insurance? You are starting up a small business and need to minimize expenses, and one way to do that is to forego health insurance? Tough. You have to pay $750 annually for the “privilege.” (Section 1501)

 

2. You are young and healthy and want to pay for insurance that reflects that status? Tough. You’ll have to pay for premiums that cover not only you, but also the guy who smokes three packs a day, drink a gallon of whiskey and eats chicken fat off the floor. That’s because insurance companies will no longer be able to underwrite on the basis of a person’s health status. (Section 2701).

 

3. You would like to pay less in premiums by buying insurance with lifetime or annual limits on coverage? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to offer such policies, even if that is what customers prefer. (Section 2711).

 

4. Think you’d like a policy that is cheaper because it doesn’t cover preventive care or requires cost-sharing for such care? Tough. Health insurers will no longer be able to offer policies that do not cover preventive services or offer them with cost-sharing, even if that’s what the customer wants. (Section 2712).

 

5. You are an employer and you would like to offer coverage that doesn’t allow your employees’ slacker children to stay on the policy until age 26? Tough. (Section 2714).

 

6. You must buy a policy that covers ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices; laboratory services; preventive and wellness services; chronic disease management; and pediatric services, including oral and vision care.

 

You’re a single guy without children? Tough, your policy must cover pediatric services. You’re a woman who can’t have children? Tough, your policy must cover maternity services. You’re a teetotaler? Tough, your policy must cover substance abuse treatment. (Add your own violation of personal freedom here.) (Section 1302).

 

7. Do you want a plan with lots of cost-sharing and low premiums? Well, the best you can do is a “Bronze plan,” which has benefits that provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60% of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan. Anything lower than that, tough. (Section 1302 (d) (1) (A))

 

8. You are an employer in the small-group insurance market and you’d like to offer policies with deductibles higher than $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families? Tough. (Section 1302 © (2) (A).

 

9. If you are a large employer (defined as at least 50 employees) and you do not want to provide health insurance to your employee, then you will pay a $750 fine per employee (It could be $2,000 to $3,000 under the reconciliation changes). Think you know how to better spend that money? Tough. (Section 1513).

 

10. You are an employer who offers health flexible spending arrangements and your employees want to deduct more than $2,500 from their salaries for it? Sorry, can’t do that. (Section 9005 (i)).

 

11. If you are a physician and you don’t want the government looking over your shoulder? Tough. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to use your claims data to issue you reports that measure the resources you use, provide information on the quality of care you provide, and compare the resources you use to those used by other physicians. Of course, this will all be just for informational purposes. It’s not like the government will ever use it to intervene in your practice and patients’ care. Of course not. (Section 3003 (i))

 

12. If you are a physician and you want to own your own hospital, you must be an owner and have a “Medicare provider agreement” by Feb. 1, 2010. (Dec. 31, 2010 in the reconciliation changes.) If you didn’t have those by then, you are out of luck. (Section 6001 (i) (1) (A))

 

13. If you are a physician owner and you want to expand your hospital? Well, you can’t (Section 6001 (i) (1) (B). Unless, it is located in a country where, over the last five years, population growth has been 150% of what it has been in the state (Section 6601 (i) (3) ( E)). And then you cannot increase your capacity by more than 200% (Section 6001 (i) (3) ©).

 

14. You are a health insurer and you want to raise premiums to meet costs? Well, if that increase is deemed “unreasonable” by the Secretary of Health and Human Services it will be subject to review and can be denied. (Section 1003)

 

15. The government will extract a fee of $2.3 billion annually from the pharmaceutical industry. If you are a pharmaceutical company what you will pay depends on the ratio of the number of brand-name drugs you sell to the total number of brand-name drugs sold in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the brand-name drugs in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2.3 billion, or $230,000,000. (Under reconciliation, it starts at $2.55 billion, jumps to $3 billion in 2012, then to $3.5 billion in 2017 and $4.2 billion in 2018, before settling at $2.8 billion in 2019 (Section 1404)). Think you, as a pharmaceutical executive, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 9008 (b)).

 

16. The government will extract a fee of $2 billion annually from medical device makers. If you are a medical device maker what you will pay depends on your share of medical device sales in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the medical devices in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2 billion, or $200,000,000. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for R&D? Tough. (Section 9009 (b)).

 

The reconciliation package turns that into a 2.9% excise tax for medical device makers. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 1405).

 

17. The government will extract a fee of $6.7 billion annually from insurance companies. If you are an insurer, what you will pay depends on your share of net premiums plus 200% of your administrative costs. So, if your net premiums and administrative costs are equal to 10% of the total, you will pay 10% of $6.7 billion, or $670,000,000. In the reconciliation bill, the fee will start at $8 billion in 2014, $11.3 billion in 2015, $1.9 billion in 2017, and $14.3 billion in 2018 (Section 1406).Think you, as an insurance executive, know how to better spend that money? Tough.(Section 9010 (b) (1) (A and B).)

 

18. If an insurance company board or its stockholders think the CEO is worth more than $500,000 in deferred compensation? Tough.(Section 9014).

 

19. You will have to pay an additional 0.5% payroll tax on any dollar you make over $250,000 if you file a joint return and $200,000 if you file an individual return. What? You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9015).

 

That amount will rise to a 3.8% tax if reconciliation passes. It will also apply to investment income, estates, and trusts. You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Like you need to ask. (Section 1402).

 

20. If you go for cosmetic surgery, you will pay an additional 5% tax on the cost of the procedure. Think you know how to spend that money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9017).

 

Keep in mind that health insurance and health care are two entirely different things, but the politicians are hoping you don't notice that. This bill does nothing to increase the supply of doctors, hospitals, or drugs. It's a gift to those evil insurance companies Obama is always whining about.

[pickle]

This sucks.

[the_gloaming09]

Well at least now that health care has been passed they can FINALLY begin to focus on the Economy and Unemployment.

 

 

I can't wait to see the Dems. get voted out in 2010 as they deserve it... clearly they don't care about what the people want since the majority were against this bill and how it was passed (which was unconstitutionally by the way).

 

This is why I don't like this bill because it forces you to become part of it regardless of if you want to or not. I'd rather get the freedom to make my own choices.

[TyM218]

can't put a price on safety.

[The Escapist]

So americans have to take out health insurance with a private health insurer? Australias system works a lot differently.

[The Escapist]

http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/about/whatwedo/health-system/index.jsp

[pickle]

Well at least now that health care has been passed they can FINALLY begin to focus on the Economy and Unemployment.

 

 

I can't wait to see the Dems. get voted out in 2010 as they deserve it... clearly they don't care about what the people want since the majority were against this bill and how it was passed (which was unconstitutionally by the way).

 

This is why I don't like this bill because it forces you to become part of it regardless of if you want to or not. I'd rather get the freedom to make my own choices.

 

This. :\

 

The whole decision really didn't affect me until I realized that I'll someday have to deal with all of this...a part of me doesn't really understand what's going on, all I know is that I've lost one of the rights I'm supposed to be granted as an American.

[mc_squared]

So what happens if people can't afford it?:dozey:

[pickle]

Then they'll all end up on welfare and the whole country will realize what New York's been going through for the past gazillion years. :blank:

[an angel]

YAY SOCIALISM

[mc_squared]

Ludicrous.:dozey:

[The Final Track]

There's this new Obama bill that will force us to have a sex operation and then make us have an abortion :angry:

[the_gloaming09]

This. :\

 

The whole decision really didn't affect me until I realized that I'll someday have to deal with all of this...a part of me doesn't really understand what's going on, all I know is that I've lost one of the rights I'm supposed to be granted as an American.

 

yup... like I said, it's freedom of choice to let me pick a provider and decide if i even want it. i don't need the government telling me that I have to get this I can make my own choices.

 

 

So what happens if people can't afford it?:dozey:

 

then the government aka. taxpayers pick up the tab.

 

what I hate even more about this is that (i'm not saying everyone), but you have people that like to mooch off the system. I mean if you can get things for free because you are financially disadvantaged then why would you take the effort to go work?

[Passenger]

Sorry but I think the new healthcare policy goes into the right indirection. In fact, I'm frustrated that it leaves out illegal immigrants who do a lot of shitty work Americans don't wanna do. In return they should be allowed to get health insurance. Human rights can also be understood as social rights (sth the US always lobbied against). But of course that's only my opinion.

 

I come from a different context than US citizens. You never had the experience of war in your own country. My world is based on a social market economy like France and Germany; and to certain extent the NHS in the UK. What you call socialism is normal for us. We are happy that we have this expensive but state financed welfare system - particularly now when we are still dealing with the consequences of the economic crisis.

 

I agree that Obama's health care policy might be abused by insurance companies. But because of this fact I argue for more state regulation; whilst most US citizens probably prefer the opposite.

[the_gloaming09]

YAY SOCIALISM

woo!

[pickle]

I mean...in a way it is kind of good thing...:uhoh: My best friend said it will mean more business for her dad. :\

[Passenger]

There's this new Obama bill that will force us to have a sex operation and then make us have an abortion :angry:

 

Exactly! loooool

... though you have to use another myth as abortion was now left out thanks to Stupak. ;)

 

What about the myth that the bill kills old people. I loved that one. :laugh3:

... though some people are seriously arguing about it... :shocked2:

[pickle]

then the government aka. taxpayers pick up the tab.

 

what I hate even more about this is that (i'm not saying everyone), but you have people that like to mooch off the system. I mean if you can get things for free because you are financially disadvantaged then why would you take the effort to go work?

 

Exactly!! My mom works for social services and she's always complaining about the people who are able to get different benefits when they don't need them lol.

[the_gloaming09]

Sorry but I think the new healthcare policy goes into the right indirection. In fact, I'm frustrated that it leaves out illegal immigrants who do a lot of shitty work Americans don't wanna do. In return they should be allowed to get health insurance. Human rights can also be understood as social rights (sth the US always lobbied against). But of course that's only my opinion.

 

I come from a different context than US citizens. You never had the experience of war in your own country. My world is based on a social market economy like France and Germany; and to certain extent the NHS in the UK. What you call socialism is normal for us. We are happy that we have this expensive but state financed welfare system - particularly now when we are still dealing with the consequences of the economic crisis.

 

I agree that Obama's health care policy might be abused by insurance companies. But because of this fact I argue for more state regulation; whilst most US citizens probably prefer the opposite.

 

I think that the illegals shouldn't get it. They came in illegally, so how is it fair that they would get free healthcare while not even paying any taxes?

[Passenger]

I think that the illegals shouldn't get it. They came in illegally, so how is it fair that they would get free healthcare while not even paying any taxes?

 

But they do the work you don't wanna do. Some sectors in the US wouldn't be working without them. Actually you should thank them...

[the_gloaming09]

But they do the work you don't wanna do. Some sectors in the US wouldn't be working without them. Actually you should thank them...

 

yes.. but they came over illegally. they may be doing those jobs but by not paying taxes it means that people have to pay more taxes to cover their benefits. if they want to have a job here that's fine i have no problem... just do it legally and/or pay taxes like the rest of us.

[an angel]

The bill does cover illegals though, doesn't it? :thinking:

[busybeeburns]

The Obama honeymoon over yet, is it?

[an angel]

yes.. but they came over illegally. they may be doing those jobs but by not paying taxes it means that people have to pay more taxes to cover their benefits. if they want to have a job here that's fine i have no problem... just do it legally and/or pay taxes like the rest of us.

 

I agree.

[Passenger]

yes.. but they came over illegally. they may be doing those jobs but by not paying taxes it means that people have to pay more taxes to cover their benefits. if they want to have a job here that's fine i have no problem... just do it legally and/or pay taxes like the rest of us.

 

Easier said than done as your immigration laws are not particularly friendly to immigrants. It's not easy to obtain a Green Card... and with the brain drain problem not many cleaners etc are getting in your country.