Democrats health plan exposes more lies, Baucus's plan rejected.
According to theHill.com it appears that the last vestige of Republican support has melted away in the form of Olympia Snowe who expressed concerns over the budgetary constraints the health reform bill poses. When a woman who voted for the 787 Stimulus package is concerned over price, you got a problem! Max Baucus feels he addresses some of the concerns put forth by critics, specifically payment of the program. In the speech to Congress, Obama suggested the Democrat's bill will not add one cent to our deficit by matching every expenditure with a cut. He also maintained NOTHING will change for those currently insured. OK, let's see how this holds up.
The proposal is as following:
Fees on insurance companies, drug makers, medical device manufacturers and insurers. Tax of 35 percent on insurance plans costing more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families, applied to premium amounts over the threshold. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. A fee on employers whose workers receive government subsidies to help them pay premiums. Fines on those who fail to get coverage.
Baucus’s measure would cost $856 billion over 10 years — far less than the $1 trillon-plus bills approved by four other congressional committees and less even than Baucus’s previous estimates. The price tag also falls below the $900 billion limit set by President Barack Obama.
First of all, without delving into how many people are affected we can see beyond any shadow of a doubt that no cutting is taking place. There is no shrinking of government, no reduction in departments, agencies, employees, etc so that is lie #1. There is a nasty tax on "wealthy" health insurance programs, therefore cost of insurance programs for at least some people in America will rise, lie #2. Obama also alleges that Medicare/Medicaid will not suffer. According to whitehouse.gov's reality check, they suggest de-funding Medicare is a myth!! Baucus proposes deep cuts in medicare/medicaid, some sources suggesting up to 500 billion dollars. Lie #3? You bet. But this actually raises a much more serious issue that some have missed.
In summary:
As you can see, when the federal government has printed all it can print and faces a situation of critical magnitude the solution is to cut services. After decades of abuse and mismanagement Medicare and Medicaid are broke, they are so broke in fact, that in twenty years the liability cost of these two programs will exceed that of Social Security. Yet by injecting themselves into the health business in the first place, they have crowded out health insurers, raised costs of existing insurers through regulation and significantly compromised the market to provide competitive health care solutions. We find ourselves in a situation where our seniors are utterly stuck and are at the mercy of government bureaucrats, not a good place to be! There is no time to usher in a private solution because the market is broken due to intervention. Americans could easily be facing a similar prospect in 10 or 20 years, between Medicare/Medicaid anywhere between 70-80 million are affected, but we are putting more and more people on a deadly hook.
With so many lies, half-truths, inconsistencies and contradictions one has to question all motivation behind this "emergency" reform. We know there are 30 million uninsured at any one time, with less than half too poor to actually afford anything, so this almost 900 billion dollar plan is intended for something else. Even if bought insurance straight up for all the uninsured the total cost would be a fraction of the proposed number. Instead liberals are simply providing a mechanism by which the federal government can pay for programs they themselves mismanaged in the first place! Medicaid also has strict restrictions on what plans seniors can actually purchase further restricting people's freedom to choose. This is a convoluted system designed to permanently entrench the government's position in our health industry to pay for and cover up previous mistakes. This plan is being sold as a benevolent solution, but the amount of contradiction leads me to believe that something more sinister is afoot. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but how can we possibly trust the people behind Medicare/Medicaid with handling our care? It is madness!
The proposal is as following:
Fees on insurance companies, drug makers, medical device manufacturers and insurers. Tax of 35 percent on insurance plans costing more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families, applied to premium amounts over the threshold. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. A fee on employers whose workers receive government subsidies to help them pay premiums. Fines on those who fail to get coverage.
Baucus’s measure would cost $856 billion over 10 years — far less than the $1 trillon-plus bills approved by four other congressional committees and less even than Baucus’s previous estimates. The price tag also falls below the $900 billion limit set by President Barack Obama.
First of all, without delving into how many people are affected we can see beyond any shadow of a doubt that no cutting is taking place. There is no shrinking of government, no reduction in departments, agencies, employees, etc so that is lie #1. There is a nasty tax on "wealthy" health insurance programs, therefore cost of insurance programs for at least some people in America will rise, lie #2. Obama also alleges that Medicare/Medicaid will not suffer. According to whitehouse.gov's reality check, they suggest de-funding Medicare is a myth!! Baucus proposes deep cuts in medicare/medicaid, some sources suggesting up to 500 billion dollars. Lie #3? You bet. But this actually raises a much more serious issue that some have missed.
In summary:
- Medicare will not be cut: Lie
- Nothing will change for existing insurance holders: Lie
- This will be paid for by cuts in government: Lie
As you can see, when the federal government has printed all it can print and faces a situation of critical magnitude the solution is to cut services. After decades of abuse and mismanagement Medicare and Medicaid are broke, they are so broke in fact, that in twenty years the liability cost of these two programs will exceed that of Social Security. Yet by injecting themselves into the health business in the first place, they have crowded out health insurers, raised costs of existing insurers through regulation and significantly compromised the market to provide competitive health care solutions. We find ourselves in a situation where our seniors are utterly stuck and are at the mercy of government bureaucrats, not a good place to be! There is no time to usher in a private solution because the market is broken due to intervention. Americans could easily be facing a similar prospect in 10 or 20 years, between Medicare/Medicaid anywhere between 70-80 million are affected, but we are putting more and more people on a deadly hook.
With so many lies, half-truths, inconsistencies and contradictions one has to question all motivation behind this "emergency" reform. We know there are 30 million uninsured at any one time, with less than half too poor to actually afford anything, so this almost 900 billion dollar plan is intended for something else. Even if bought insurance straight up for all the uninsured the total cost would be a fraction of the proposed number. Instead liberals are simply providing a mechanism by which the federal government can pay for programs they themselves mismanaged in the first place! Medicaid also has strict restrictions on what plans seniors can actually purchase further restricting people's freedom to choose. This is a convoluted system designed to permanently entrench the government's position in our health industry to pay for and cover up previous mistakes. This plan is being sold as a benevolent solution, but the amount of contradiction leads me to believe that something more sinister is afoot. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but how can we possibly trust the people behind Medicare/Medicaid with handling our care? It is madness!
Oh, spare me the racist commentary, the anti-Semite Jimmy Carter already made me aware of this fact.
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