Obama's Health Plan Bars Private Insurance After All

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HB3
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Obama's Health Plan Bars Private Insurance After All

Post by HB3 » 07-16-2009 10:12 AM

Liars.

It's Not An Option

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009 4:20 PM PT

It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal.

When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised--with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

From the beginning, opponents of the public option plan have warned that if the government gets into the business of offering subsidized health insurance coverage, the private insurance market will wither. Drawn by a public option that will be 30% to 40% cheaper than their current premiums because taxpayers will be funding it, employers will gladly scrap their private plans and go with Washington's coverage.

The nonpartisan Lewin Group estimated in April that 120 million or more Americans could lose their group coverage at work and end up in such a program. That would leave private carriers with 50 million or fewer customers. This could cause the market to, as Lewin Vice President John Sheils put it, "fizzle out altogether."

What wasn't known until now is that the bill itself will kill the market for private individual coverage by not letting any new policies be written after the public option becomes law.

The legislation is also likely to finish off health savings accounts, a goal that Democrats have had for years. They want to crush that alternative because nothing gives individuals more control over their medical care, and the government less, than HSAs.

With HSAs out of the way, a key obstacle to the left's expansion of the welfare state will be removed.

The public option won't be an option for many, but rather a mandate for buying government care. A free people should be outraged at this advance of soft tyranny.

Washington does not have the constitutional or moral authority to outlaw private markets in which parties voluntarily participate. It shouldn't be killing business opportunities, or limiting choices, or legislating major changes in Americans' lives.

It took just 16 pages of reading to find this naked attempt by the political powers to increase their reach. It's scary to think how many more breaches of liberty we'll come across in the final 1,002.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticle ... 8165656854

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Post by Psychicwolf » 07-16-2009 10:32 AM

HB, this is a meme that several conservative blogs have been rolling around the internet. I don't think this holds water. More fear and loathing from the Right. Interesting that this came from a so-called think tank that has strong ties to the insurance industry...hmmmmm.
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Post by Linnea » 07-16-2009 10:38 AM

Looking at more of the 'details' of proposed health care reform myself this morning. Why doesn't this surprise me?

Just about to post an article on what I have long suspected, the driving force behind health care reform - is the rationing of Medicare. This is the equivalent of Bush's attempts to 'privatize' Social Security. The Senate plan which is emerging proposes to pay for health care reform - at least 50% of it, from 'savings' in Medicare expenditures - 500 Billion. That's a lot of health care which will be extracted from Medicare.

Further - there is a proposal to regulate Medicare spending at the level of the 'executive branch', permanently removing control of regulation from Congress.

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Post by HB3 » 07-16-2009 10:39 AM

Psychicwolf wrote: HB, this is a meme that several conservative blogs have been rolling around the internet. I don't think this holds water. More fear and loathing from the Right. Interesting that this came from a so-called think tank that has strong ties to the insurance industry...hmmmmm.


Seems pretty cut and dry to me. What specifically is incorrect?

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Post by SETIsLady » 07-16-2009 10:40 AM

Anyone have a copy of what they are reading from ?

Also while I support the right of people to choose their own medical insurance, I really don't have much sympathy for the insurance companies, they have had years to come up with affordable insurance on their own. Now that they are going to have some competition they are whining.

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Post by HB3 » 07-16-2009 10:41 AM

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

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Post by Linnea » 07-16-2009 10:41 AM

Originally posted by Psychicwolf
HB, this is a meme that several conservative blogs have been rolling around the internet. I don't think this holds water. More fear and loathing from the Right. Interesting that this came from a so-called think tank that has strong ties to the insurance industry...hmmmmm.


Then again, it does make sense the private health insurance providers would be concerned. The real question is: is this true?

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Post by HB3 » 07-16-2009 10:42 AM

SETIsLady wrote: Anyone have a copy of what they are reading from ?

Also while I support the right of people to choose their own medical insurance, I really don't have much sympathy for the insurance companies, they have had years to come up with affordable insurance on their own. Now that they are going to have some competition they are whining.


Out of the frying pan....

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Post by HB3 » 07-16-2009 10:43 AM

Look, there's no question the system is tremendously corrupt. So how's the record so far of government bureaucracy?

How's the public school system doing, for example?

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Post by Linnea » 07-16-2009 10:45 AM

Here is the link to the Washington Post article regarding the Medicare rationing issues I am going to be posting in a separate thread:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03929.html

I'll let HB provide his links for this private insurance issue here.

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Post by HB3 » 07-16-2009 10:47 AM

Psychicwolf wrote: More fear and loathing from the Right.


What are some other examples of this fear and loathing from the Right?

I know the AMA sucks. I know the insurance industry sucks. You don't need to convince me of that, so let's just get that out of the way.

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Post by HB3 » 07-16-2009 10:53 AM

SETIsLady wrote: Anyone have a copy of what they are reading from ?


I'm assuming they aren't making it up. With that as a given, it appears to flatly contradict what the public has been told will be their continued rights. And this is consistent, frankly, with a political philosophy which "knows what's best for you."

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Post by SETIsLady » 07-16-2009 10:59 AM

HB3 wrote: I'm assuming they aren't making it up. With that as a given, it appears to flatly contradict what the public has been told will be their continued rights.
All the more reason to read it for yourself and not assume some article is correct.

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Post by HB3 » 07-16-2009 11:04 AM

At this point I still have enough faith in the mainstream press to assume they're going to quote an easily verified public document accurately. If we had to personally verify every document quoted by the press we'd be in serious trouble.

Don't worry, I'm sure the astroturfers are springing into action at this very moment. They'll be along soon....

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Post by SETIsLady » 07-16-2009 11:06 AM

I do my best for verify anything that has to do with important things such as the changing of the Health care system. The media hasn't been a friend of the people for a long time.

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