Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus - Taking advantage of the fact that most Americans are victims of government education hence easily fooled -
has Introduced a $856 Billion Health-Care Bill
It will require nearly all Americans to carry health insurance while barring insurance companies from discriminating against people based on their health status or denying coverage because of preexisting conditions.
He says that "The plan does not call for a government-run insurance option" - so who the **** is going to enforce those requirements : Blackwater? ArmorGroup ? The Mexicans ? Canadians?
What a **** tard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
.
Health insurance companies are already regulated by state governments, in some states very highly regulated, and since there seems to be a large and broadly based consensus that we need a national policy to slow the rate of increase of health care and health insurance costs and to increase affordable access to health care/insurance, new federal legislation aimed at trying to achieve these goals is inevitable.
The problem with this bill, from what I have read so far about it, is that it fails to meet either goal and in the case of containing health care/insurance goals actually makes matters worse. Requiring insurers to cover those with pre existing conditions at standard rates and capping out of pocket health care expenses will cause standard rates to increase for everyone who now pays for health insurance. According to an analysis from the University of Michigan, insuring those with pre existing conditions at standard rates will cause standard rates to increase from 10% to 15%, an increase of $520 to $780 a year for a family of four paying for employers provided health insurance or $1,300 to $1,950 a year for those buying individual policies with comparable benefits.
Insured might pay more under Obama plan - Health care reform- msnbc.com
In effect, this plan, and the other plans being considered by the Congress, would pay for this coverage of those with pre existing conditions by imposing a regressive tax - those earning $40,000 a year would pay the same amount as those earning $240,000 a year - on all those now paying for either group or individual health insurance. Of course, capping out of pocket expenses means insurance company costs will increase and this increase will also be passed on to consumers, further increasing the tax this bill imposes on health insurance consumers.
The bill proposes to pay for a part of the cost it will generate by imposing fees, really excise taxes, on medical device suppliers and on insurance companies for each high end policy they sell. The medical device suppliers will simply pass this new expense on to consumers, further driving up health care costs, which will make health insurance cost even more, driving health insurance costs to those now paying for it even higher, and insurance companies will, of course pass on their increased costs due to the fees on high end insurance policies in the form of higher premiums. It is not unreasonable to expect to see a middle class family of four paying at least $1,000 a year more for their health insurance if this bill becomes law.
These increases in the cost of health insurance raises serious questions about whether or not this bill will decrease the number of uninsured. How many of the people now struggling to pay their monthly health insurance premiums will be able to pay the additional $80 a month or more this bill will impose on them? How many will be forced to drop their coverage, thus swelling the ranks of the uninsured? How many employers facing an additional $160 a month in expenses to provide health insurance will simply choose to drop their plans or pass more of their costs on to their employees? Since the current estimates of how many currently uninsured will receive subsidies that will allow them to buy insurance are based on current rates and current estimates of rate increases, not the higher rates this bill will create, it is unclear how many now currently uninsured will be helped by this bill if Obama's pledge of a $900,000,000 ten year cap on the federal government's outlays becomes law. Will the number newly uninsured equal the number of newly insured? Nobody knows.
There are many other problems with this bill, but in terms of containing health care/insurance costs, it is worse than doing nothing and in terms of increasing affordable access to health care/insurance it may be as bad as doing nothing.
