Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Why Replace Obamacare with Anything?

Obamacare, like almost everything the government is in charge of, is undoubtedly a disaster and needs to be repealed. Why should it be replaced with anything? We already have an extensive Medicaid program, which was supposedly designed to provide a safety net for those unable to afford insurance. Like most if not all government programs, it is rife with fraud and abuses.

Medicare is another disaster. The majority of people think this is a free government program that pays 80% of everything. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Seniors pay for Medicare, and Medicare pays for 80% of what Medicare thinks you should have been billed. For example, if your doctor charges you $200 for an annual exam, Medicare might decide that you should have been charged only $100, and it will pay 80%, or $80, of that amount. The Medicare enrollee is left with a bill for $120. That's why almost all seniors have what is called "gap" insurance, a secondary insurance, which can be costly but pays most or all of the gap left between what you are billed and what Medicare pays. The same holds true for all medical testing and hospitalizations.

One of the popular narratives for replacing Obamacare is that so many people were uninsured before its passage and need to be insured. What I haven't heard is who these people are. I know that a good portion of them are young people who choose not to have health insurance. Since when did the government decide how a person should live his life? And should it?

More

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Government has no business being involved in the health care industry.

Anonymous said...

That's what I have been wondering. Why even replace it? Just REPEAL the garbage.

Anonymous said...

You can't just repeal it at this point because Obamacare destroyed what we had as an insurance/healthcare system. It was designed to seek and destroy and it's done a wonderful job. There has to be some measures put in place to rectify where things have been torn down or erased. Repealing alone will not suffice and would be disastrous without follow-up. The best course is dismantle it piece by piece which takes more than 20 seconds.

Anonymous said...

Maybe, maybe not. Anything can be accomplished if the motivation is there. How much trouble would it be to make insurance companies revert back to what they were doing before obammycare?

Granted, it most certainly will take longer than 20 seconds(?) but the possibilities are there.

Hell, we were forced to pass it to see what was in it, just repeal it and see how the cookie crumbles.

Anonymous said...

Exactly. Leave the market alone and allow it to work itself out.
We used to have Free Markets.

Now we have rigged casinos.

Anonymous said...

Since only 10.3 million people have Obamacare, how will 24 million die if it is repealed???????? 3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!

Anonymous said...

You can bet your bippie that the insurance companies already have the actuarial tables for new policies already worked out in case of full repeal. If push comes to shove they will be ready. There is just no reason to keep feeding this turkey.

Anonymous said...

Just let it implode!

Anonymous said...

Aside from Medicare and Medicaid (and they need major over site and tweeking); the Government should stay OUT of the HealthCare/Insurance business. Everything they touch they destroy and it costs 'we the people' a fortune...

Anonymous said...

If you think insurance companies are ever going to LOWER premiums, you are crazy!!