Here come government health care price controls; Update: Obamacare 2.0$$ unveiled
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Earlier this month, I flagged the White House jihad against Anthem Blue Cross of California over its rate increases (see Feb. 9, 2010, Will the White House demand that every business “justify” its price increases?).
That campaign has now become the new cornerstone of the Demcare revival.
Via the NYT:
President Obama will propose on Monday giving the federal government new power to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies, as he rolls out comprehensive legislation to revamp the nation’s health care system, White House officials said Sunday.
The president’s legislation aims to bridge differences between the bills adopted by the House and Senate late last year, and to frame his debate with Republicans over health policy at a televised meeting on Thursday.
By focusing on the effort to tighten regulation of insurance costs, a new element not included in either the House or Senate bills, Mr. Obama is seizing on outrage over recent premium increases of up to 39 percent announced by Anthem Blue Cross of California and moving to portray the Democrats’ health overhaul as a way to protect Americans from profiteering insurers.
But the power grab is an admission that Demcare will result in massive premium hikes. And Republicans should pound on that fact if they plan on attending the Oba-kabuki dog-and-pony show this week:
Republican leaders had not formally accepted the president’s invitation to the meeting. But the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said on Sunday that he would attend. “I intend to be there, and my members will be there and ready to participate,” Mr. McConnell said on Fox News.
The president’s new provision also seemed to offer Republicans an opening for a new line of criticism — that Mr. Obama and Democrats are anticipating the possibility of hefty price increases for health insurance even after their big legislation is adopted.
Mr. McConnell said the president, in proposing a new version of the Democrats’ legislation, seemed to prejudging the outcome of the session. “If they are going to lay out the plan they want to pass four days in advance,” he said on Fox, “What are we discussing on Thursday?”
Via the Daily Caller, the supposedly “stopgap” powers will last…indefinitely:
“This goes into effect immediately, while the exchanges take a few years to get up and running. And we know the insurers aren’t wasting any time in jacking up rates,” the White House official told the Daily Caller Sunday night.
However, the administration official said the government’s regulatory powers would not be diminished or eliminated once the government-run insurance exchanges are fully operational.
Of course not.
Don Boudreuax has 1970s flashbacks:
Those of us who remember the 1970s recall the frolics sparked by America’s last great experiment with widespread price caps – namely, those on oil and natural gas. The resulting short supplies gave us the thrill of waiting in long lines – and sometimes even getting into fistfights – for the privilege of buying a few gallons of gasoline. People literally chilled out in their homes for want of heat. The Nixon administration imposed a national speed limit of 55 MPH. These and other consequences certainly made for a memorable decade.
What cool adventures await us if Mr. Obama succeeds in giving Uncle Sam power to control insurance rates? Reduced coverage? Hidden fees aimed at skirting government regulations? Surly service? More trouble and delays collecting on our policies?
***
Update 10:20am – Obamacare 2.0$$ has been unveiled. Philip Klein sums it up: “Almost every provision in Obama’s new proposal will make it more costly than the Senate bill.”
You can read the repackaged government health care takeover plan here. Gone: Ben Nelson’s Cornhusker Kickback. Still there: Big Labor’s Cadillac Tax Exemption Buy-Off.
Jamie Dupree outlines:
The excise tax on so-called Cadillac health insurance is in this bill, with a slightly higher threshhold for where it kicks in.
The penalties for employers who have more than 50 workers and do not provide health insurance coverage would go from $750 in the Senate bill to $2,000.
Also not in this bill, the infamous “Cornhusker Kickback” won by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) in the Senate bill.
As for how much it will all cost, officials sidestepped a direct answer on that, saying that all of the changes are paid for, and that the plan will not increase the deficit. That most likely won’t wash with critics on the GOP side.
Also still in the bill? Government abortion funding. Steve Ertelt reports.
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Because price controls worked soooooooooooo well for Nixon and Ford,….
It worked well in the Soviet Union didn’t it?
/sarc
Of course, he has yet to propose any solution that would take care of those who parasitically take advantage of our system, and WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIGH PRICES!!!
The combined economic impact of illegal immigrants and our already semi-socialized medical system have forced 2 hospitals to shut down and all but 1 hospital to eliminate their ER facilities in my home town; Leftist “solutions” will simply make the matter worse – period.
Create an enemy. If a massive takeover won’t work, pass “little” regulations, one at a time, until the business is completely run by the government. This whole scam isn’t about health care, as we know, it’s about government control of our lives.
Price controls? More?
Controls have worked so well in the Medicare and Medicaid programs…how about some more?
Doctors and Healthcare Institutions dropping out of existing Government payer programs…and we should do more?
Idiots…all of them!
You WILL justify all actions to the State. The day of living private lives is at an end-you will justify your existence to the State. Obama will not let you go back to your selfish private lives.
One step at a time Comrade Obama, one step at a time.
Economic rule: Price controls always lead to shortages as companies decide its not worth offering goods and services at a loss.
I don’t think our government cares about economics, though.
The problem with ‘price controls’ is that if the company can no longer maintain a lucrative rate of return for it’s stock holders, it will cease to do business in that field. Case in point of NY when Spitzer filed numerous frivolous charges against the insurance companies, they ceased doing business in the state – there go your choices. The second area of argument that is constantly waved is buying health insurance across state lines ‘like auto insurance’. You can purchase auto insurance ‘across state lines’ on the web, but the policy will be written by a company licensed in the state where you live, under the policy requirements for that state, and at the rate premium for that state. Having recently moved from one state to another, my nationwide company (a consistent JD Powers Award Winner)had to reissue my policy to meet my state’s requirements and under a different rate for the state where I now live. Yes there are bottom feeder health insurance companies out there, but due diligence and free market pressures will resolve those.
Here’s the plan: mandate excessive coverage, then deny them premium increases to cover the mandates, then take over health care industry.
Silly me, I thought Obama said he has going to concentrate on the economy and jobs instead of health care. Duh. To think I fell for that crap! The only thing we can pray for now is that they can’t find 51 progressives to cram the bill down our throats. There can no longer be any question about what their agenda is. To get a health care bill passed, NO.MATTER.WHAT. Then, they can add in their socialist/marxist amendments later. Any chance to stop this now, or are we screwed?
Um, try this. Economics 101. First day. First lecture. First five minutes.
Professor writes on blackboard: Supply and Demand.
Increase the supply of health insurance options via “mobility” (interstate competition) – Price goes down – increasing demand – attracting more competetors into the market (increasing availability) – controlling price…etc.
Sheesh. This is not rocket science people. Where are the Republicans with the common sense and kahonas to just articulate this fundamental reality to Barry’s face?
Theory: Socialism can work.
Historical Reality: Socialism has never worked – Free markets and limited government lead to prosperity.
Maybe the Democrats should ask for Venezuela’s help in implementing price controls. It is working out really well for them.
Something is fishy here. Either Anthem is stupid for the unbelievable price increases or someone is getting paid to help the Democrats get their agenda passed. A 39% increase in one swoop? That is either bad business or Anthem execs had a white house meeting. The timing was too weird.
It’s a complete government takeover. First it was the banks and auto industry, which were both “emergencies”. Now this. If the government has the power to tell private industry what they can charge and how much profit they can make then it’s all over.
Up next… WalMart charges too much for socks; Target charges too much for pillows; McDonals charges too much for McNuggets; Crest charges too much for toothpaste; Goodyear charges too much for tires and the list goes on and on.
This will effectively destroy the economy and marks the end of our Constitution.
How appropriate that the new color for this thread is Red!
This will not pass. The real issue is whether the Republicans will behave in accordance to the Bill Bennett’s characterization or prove again that Glenn Beck is right about Republicans being as big a part of the problem as Democrats.
They’re going to participate in this Obakabuki “summit” aren’t they? Spineless polymorphs.
Yeah, what exactly is new here? Its the same government takeover, featuring the same youth crushing mandates all with a massive price tag. So much for Obama taking his “hard pivot” in a new direction. I’d say he’s “stuck on repeat” but I like Little Boots way too much for that. Guess I’ll just have to stick with good old fashioned “stuck on stupid” instead.
This idiot is determined to be a one-termer, which is fine with me, except for the terrible damage that we’re constantly forced to try and dodge in the interim.
President BO has succeeded in becoming the most despised president ever in just one year!
Could it be that the reason is he is a lier, thug, and moron? Or is it just that he so obviously hates America so much?
Lets impeach him using reconciliation! Slime ball Reid will explain how this is possible presently.
BO is the only President who thinks the Constitution is a kind of toilet paper to wipe his black ass with. (Race card inserted by demand of BO.) It’s clear that BO will bow to anyone except the American people.
When it comes to Obowmao, “Caveat Emptor” just doesn’t seem to cover it anymore, does it?
Help me out here – if he’s bored being potus and only wants to fill the chair for one term – what job, pray tell, is he interviewing for now?
Brian, we need to use ‘stuck on stupid’ as our mantra.
If Michelle O’s nutrition police have their way, there won’t be any McNuggets for our kids OR us. No joke. We got “Green Soy Burgers for all!” Bloomie here in NYC as a red-flag about this.
No, the sharp show this coming. The Bama will NEVER capitulate his socialist agenda. Like I said, if Healthcare passes, look out for the God-given right of Universal Free Housing (with all that implies) come his next term.
James Greenidge
Queens New York
Exactly! Just like the economic sunami that hit right before the presidential election…the timing didn’t pass the stink test and this doesn’t either. These people know how to implement the dirty tricks so that most people are fooled. They are smart, but we can no see through them. Unfortunately, the majority of people in this country are not smart enough, or don’t care enough, to figure it out.
Any participation more than eating the doughnuts and walking out with a collective middle finger in the air is too much participation, Mr. McConnell!
Appropriate? How? Anyway, I went out and came back in and it is black again. That red was almost unreadable for me!
Price controls.
Because He knows better what works and what doesn’t……
on the brighter side, even an attempt at this should sink him in the polls even further.
Yeah, and Castro and Kim Jung Il have had pretty spiffy results with them as well.
The really amazing thing here is that no matter how awful a government program starts out, these idiots can ALWAYS make it WORSE!
We may all be taking to the streets in the next few days to prevent this monstrosity!
They need to hear us loudly and they need to hear us NOW!
How about we get control over this over-reaching administration?
Obama is a lunatic hell-bent of destroying America.
So, Obama’s final health care bill is more expensive than the others. And he thinks this will pass? He really is crazy. And yes, we must take to the streets over this. The torches and pitchforks need to come out like never before. Two places to gather…your senator’s local office, and the media. Make them listen to us! If we gather in huge amounts, they can’t ignore us…can they?
Why is it that the ONE thing not being discussed in all this is Tort Reform?
I am sure everyone here is sick and tired of those TV commercials from Ambulance chasing Attorneys. I plan on doing another COUNT of Attorneys holding Office, and I am guessing it has increased from the last one I did 2 yrs ago. THIS is the problem with this Country, and from there it just runs down hill.
Yup. He’s already halfway down the road to bankrupt us. This would seal our fate.
Can’t beat America in a straight up fight? Infect and destroy it from the inside.
The Socialist and Islamists agenda.
Only 5% of the Obama administration has experience in the private sector and there are none in his inner circle. Ludicrous decisions like this are to be expected. Throw in their arrogance and no one should be suprised.
Even a socialist with experience would have a moment of pause. These theorists are even too inexperienced for that.
I’m starting to think Obama hates Dems as much as he hates bitter, clinging Americans. If he keeps this up the House Dems will be able to caucus in a Prius. They will be reduced to representatives from minority dominated districts and a few ultra-liberal enclaves. Those that remain will be even nuttier and more full of rage than they are now so it will be advisable to keep a safe distance.
The libs never learn, caps mean costs go up even more than the cap represents somewhere else and at the same time innovation and efficiency dries up.
Government controls are like wrong way Charley in charge of airline safety.
Getting government out of everyone’s business and starving it, is as good as it gets.
I’ve experienced these 40% rate increases and it’s a great tool for insurers to drive off customers as they age. But the answer isn’t price controls, which shrink availability, but instead wide open competition.
The bottom line can be summed up quite nicely with the McConnell quote provided by our esteemed host:
This whole thing is nothing but a dog and pony show to try to further hoodwink Americans who are buying into the assertion that this whole thing has been transparent and/or has included input from all sides.
In other words, Republicans are wasting their time with this meeting.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
This is a clearcut case of abuse of power.
As a reminder of what most of us know, this latest “health-care” is not about health-care, just as cap& trade is not about the environment.
It is and has always been about the increasing of government power over the individual. Obama is a hard-core collectivist. He believes in total state control of every aspect of your life. So do a good number of people in Congress.
They will use whatever tools (i.e. create a crisis) are available to advance this cause.
Obama has three more years. He, and his co-believers and hatchetmen, will not stop trying to create THEIR new utopia.
Yup…and don’t forget what ‘Rent Control’ actually did to the cost and availability of housing….
Obama celebrates George Washington’s birthday by threatening to further destroy this once great country.
If you know anything about insurance companies and their individual policies you understand they have to raise prices to continue offering the product.
Why people are so shocked when a private company wants to make money is beyond me but they should check the profit margins for insurance companies and compare it to pharmaceutical companies.
What happened in CA is pretty simple. Lots of people dropped their coverage because they lost their job or didn’t want to pay for insurance. The only options for the insurance companies is to A) raise rates, B) take a loss or C) stop offering the product.
Options A is the best option. And guess what? There are people in each state that work with the insurance companies and agree to these rate increases.
What most people fail to acknowlede is the big old mean insurance companies profit margin is very low compared to many other industries. Compare it to the big pharmaceutical companies. Not even close. But big pharma is already in bed with Obama. They already cut a deal to get a pass.
This is about one thing. The Socialist Democrats using whatever they can to take over health insurance.
In an ideal world, you would be correct. But here in Corruptifornia, insurance commissioners are about as honest and diligent as Al Capone. A recent former commissioner is now in exile in Hawaii to escape prosecution. And don’t get the idea that these insurance companies are not in cahoots with Obama. This is a very convenient crisis for ObamaCare.
I don’t know what citizens can do about this if this passes. Can a number of lawyers file a suit against the government in the name of thousands or millions of citizens? This is so unconstitutional it is beyond belief. I wonder what the states can do for their citizens? We are going to have to come up with something to protect us. Surely there has to be a legal way to stop this from forcing us to do this.
L
First, BCBS used to be the premier, but since they went to BCBS-xxxx state, there are many bad BCBS companies out there – I had one threaten one of my clients that they would cut off her husbands health insurance if she went with a Medicare Part D from anyone but them. That said, the standard insurance agent quote is “We promise you won’t have a rate increase unless it applies to everyone (in your age group) – translation, you are going to have a rate increase, bet your bippy. The free market system works, we had a BCBS company in our market area begin televising ads that had a extremely low monthly premium with no pre-certs necessary. As agents, we know that was a modified form of bait and switch – they sign you up, then hit you with a massive rate increase shortly there after. If you are uninsurable to other companies, you are stuck. We were able to show the high number/percentage of complaints to our state insurance board, and the company ultimately lost business. People, when making an informed decision went with another company.
I used to live in a state where the insurance companies were required to consider every covered person in that state part of the same group, everyone paid the same rates, and no one was refused coverage for any reason. It was great, an individual got the same rate as a big company and since the groups were so large the increases were lower. Competition was from reducing costs, and by requiring all providers to charge everyone the same rates, no group discounts, provider costs would be lower. Imagine not having insurance being able to go to a hospital and pay the same rate as the biggest insurance company. Very simple way to reduce costs to the people who can’t afford insurance, and certainly can’t afford the overinflated non-insurred rates at hospitals.
Of course the politicians killed this very quickly, a few campeign contributions from the insurance industry is all it takes to kill something good. This could be implimented across the country and just think of how much they would save in printing the bill in crongress, Less than 20 pages, legal BS makes 1 simple page into 20 impossible to read pages, compared to over 1000 pages for the current insanity. Very simple and very effective. Not something congress would ever pass.
swede: FIFY. Those in charge always have it pretty cushy while the proletariat just slog along.
I, for one, am a proletariat who is getting fed up with those not willing to pull their weight in this society.
I’m getting even more fed up with those who enable them to get away with it as we slide from definition #1 and are rapidly approaching definition #3.
Please PLEASE pass this bill. The process of getting it passed will take us into the summer and by then, it will have simplified how to get rid of it: vote all incumbents out!
Just try arguing “the lesser of two evils” and “yeah sure, our guy really sucks but their guy is HITLER!!!”.
Glenn Beck is right about there being no difference between the two parties but I would elaborate that while one party argues from the left and the other from the left, we end up far left no matter who is in charge. We can fix that in November. Passing this bill would guarantee it.
Well, Obama’s thinking is — as exampled by my rounds in Southern Queens NYC (even larger than Houston) — is that once you force socialized “free” medicine/housing down people’s throats, they’ll be so anesthetized from the cost and gratefully addicted to it that they’ll let bygones be bygones. So it’s in his interest to ram it through, no matter how irate people will currently feel. (i.e. “Once they try it they’ll love it.”)
James Greenidge
Queens New York
That’s the idea.
Having federal government bureaucrats dictating what is “excessive” and empowering them to veto insurance companies’ pricing decisions is nothing more than laying the foundation for the destruction of private insurers and substituting them with a “single-payer” scheme.
And once that happens, the American People will be in the same fix that Richard Gere found himself in in the movie An Officer and a Gentleman: getting hosed down until we end up wailing, “I got nowhere else to go!”
You express the intent much more delicately than I would. I think the attitude is more like a rapist fantasizing that once he’s gotten started, his victim will “come around” and actually start to like the experience — even thank him for it.
Mike Tyson should be Hope-a-Dope’s “Healthcare” Czar: he once threatened a pesky sports reporter with the line, “I’m gonna f*** you ’til you love me!” There is no difference between that sentiment and what the donks have in mind for the American People.
Of course, the intent here is to run the private insurance companies out of business.
IF they manage to cram this steaming pile of crap down our throats, the only response of freedom-loving Americans is to–
1. Vote out anyone who voted in favor of this travesty,
2. Disobey EVERY provision of the law,
3. Never…ever…allow another Collectivist…anywhere…to go without well-funded opposition.
Obama wants central party government control; just like the old USSR. Our Constitution was designed to keep the primary power in the state’s hands; the framers knew what they were doing to prevent tyranny.
This concept doesn’t work for Progressives. That’s why, throughout history, they have always tried to change the Constitution; to them, it is the major barrier that impedes their efforts to be “Progressive”. This is why they need to be stopped.
I think that price controls, particularly on the insurance industry, are only step one. The next step is to pass an “employment package” that mandates which companies must hire which employees, to perform useless jobs on the payroll. That will solve the unemployment problem as well. I don’t see the collectivists stopping at half measures. Yessiree, we’ll have this place looking like Moscow in the 80′s in no time.
Exactly. What’s amazing is how much help he is getting from the stooges in Congress.
Run them out in 2010. Repeat in 2012.
Worry: anything passed will not be 100% undone. Even with 90% undone, you still have moved 10% in the wrong direction.
Obama is not doing anything to solve the problem. He solves the problem that he creates. . . ie insurance companies are raising rates.
Insurance companies raising rates has NOTHING to do with Medicare going broke. If they pass this ‘monumental’ and ‘historical’ piece of legislation, they will still have to address Medicare within 5 years.
Addressing Medicare will be PAINFUL if they have taken money designated for Medicare to pay for insurance plans for people under 65 and not on Medicare.
Why would any Republican waste his/her time going to this farce? Spend your time working on getting this economy moving. Who the hell cares about health care when you have no job.
Which points to our need to start reversing the process of collectivization in America.
Stopping them is NOT enough. Rolling bad law back is NOT enough. Replacing BAD law and regulation with GOOD (sometimes NO) law and regulation is what we need to do.
There has to be a new American Revolution…peaceful, potent, and people-driven.
Didn’t you hear? Obama started a bi-partisan commission to take care of that one.
The problem is, he ran out on the press conference before anyone could ask what authority the commission has.
Oh well. Who is John Galt?
OT- Have you heard they want to put choking warnings on food?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587133,00.html
A little off-topic but well worth it. For those of you who believe that the economy is getting better because home foreclosures are stabilizing, read this.
Foreclosures are actually accelerating as the banks work hard to get the non-performing mortgages off of their books. It’s just that they have also found a way a accommodate the politicians by foreclosing in a way that doesn’t get reported in the foreclosure statistics.
Another example of how government solutions always require that in a heat wave, thermometers be rigged to read 68 degrees.
from the UN
Article 25.
•(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Obviously still unacceptable and a huge budget buster — no matter what lies Obama tries to wrap it in.
Back on topic, John Boehner just issued a press release indicating that Republicans may not show up at the “summit”.
Amazing what these guys are willing to do when we keep our guns pointed at their heads. We need to find leaders who don’t require the gun part to do the right thing.
Rags – OT legal question. With a 60% stake in GM, how is it that the Congressional Oversight Committee hearings re Toyota is not a conflict of interest? Any other entity with such a vested interest in the outcome would have to recuse itself.
Just wonderin’
It will be telling to see who on the r side shows up for the ‘summit’. I have a feeling the select ‘few r’s’ that can go either way will show. I read yesterday mcconnell said he thinks he will show.
L
Folks, there ain’t gonna be no presidential election in 2012.
Obamao only needs one term………that term is dictator for life!!
More than 70 hospitals in CA alone…more are on the brink because of the unfunded federal mandate to treat anybody who comes into an ER. The price of fines might actually be cheaper for them than to continue treating illegal aliens….
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2010/02/22/possible-orchestration-anti-toyota-campaign-makes-dot-spokespersons-acor
Try that on for size, Swede.
Of course, your question points nicely to the great danger of fascist economic policy. The members of the collective are NOT competitors in any meaningful sense, but they CAN count on the power of the state to maintain their position in the economy.
Entrepreneurs need not apply…
This is Certainly true. But considering the beating our side took in 2008 we should consider ourselves lucky if 10% is all they get.
This President has an agenda and he will stop at nothing to see it accomplished. His agenda has nothing to do with what is right for this country, or what the American people understand as the “American Way”. It sets out to destroy the the “American Way” and if it can not accomplish that ultimate goal, it will destroy any means for reestablishing the “American Way”.
When he is through with his term of office we will have lost any mean for unwinding the damage he will have caused. The Progressives know full well that this is thier moment in history to change this country once and for all and they intend to close the door to any return and put a padlock on it. By electing Obama we may have finally lost the battle. I don’t see a way to stop it and the Republicans are clueless.
What’s in this “10%” you guys are talking about?
None of this will pass. I’m praying it does pass so we Americans can finally come together with a simplified unity of purpose in throwing out these bums.
Let us call it what it is, a completely corrupted government. It is time for and new House, a new Senate and a new President. Lobbiest should be taxed in the amount equal to what they spend on lobbying. I know, “It will never happen.”
Dana Milbank at WaPo claims Rahm Emmanuel is the only brake keeping Obama from going even more full blown radical communist.
For that, Kos Kiddies Klub declares war on Rahm.
Two word rebuttal…
McCain-Feingold…
how’s that working for ya…???
That…… is utter and complete bulls&^t.
First, it will cost WAY more than they say. Therefore it WILL increase the deficit. So then they’ll have to borrow more money and/or raise your taxes.
How do you know when Obama is lying????
ans: his lips are moving.
I used to think that way until Election 2008 and a Democrat majority.
Nothing should pass. Then if/when ‘we’ own the House & Senate we need to go for repealing all kinds of laws (Rags). Then if ‘we’ only get 10%, it’s a start in the right (pun) direction.
I have no idea how your post is a “rebuttal” to what I said. What does McCain-Feingold have to do with anything?
Pretty sure: our taxes and premiums will go UP immediately before any benefits (/sarc) are realized.
Then the Worry: complacency
I doubt it. It will take months to put this very complicated bill into effect and by then, voters will have again expressed their opinion in the polls in a very explosive manner.
Should this bill pass, and I don’t see how, getting elected in November will require an unequivocal pledge, while begging voters on bended knee to believe them, to repeal it immediately.
None of these corrupt weasels want to face us voters should they AGAIN vote to cram this down our throats.
All of the above,especially lower coverage and fees.
Our own government deliberately punishing the very things that they rely upon for tax revenue – profits and growth.
If that isn’t PROOF that they’re idiots then nothing is.
and very dangerous..
Let’s see now:
We need the same entity (Big Gummint), that controlled costs so effectively for Medicare and Medicaid, to repeat that performance by presuming to watchdog private insurers.
Arrogance + Idiocy = Disaster
Boss Teaparty: What we have here is a failure to communicate. We said less government. Not more!.
Nobody makes more off health insurance than the federal government. People don’t realize that health insurance is one of the most heavily regulated industries going. Federal laws, state laws, local city laws with taxes on the members and the insurance companies and huge penalties on all insurance companies if they don’t meet virtually impossible guidelines.
But now the government has decided they need more money from this business to pay for health insurance for all and the other social programs needed to fulfill their socialist wet dreams.
SOCIALISM DESTROYS COUNTRIES
Minus nineteen. I predict minus 25 or worse by the end of the week.
It’s going to be long 8 months for us Americans till the Fall elections.
But November 2010 is coming.
The country is getting angrier by the day due to the stalled economy and hopelessly high unemployment, but the RATs are obsessed with Health Care!
They are so brain dead, that they can not notice the public’s outrage in a loss of a seat held by the Kennedy dynasty in Massachusetts.
Republicans may be able to reverse some of the Pelosi/Reid regulations using the same reconciliation tactics used by the RATs in 2012.
But that is a long time away, and the damages these RATS are inflicting to our economy will have grave consequences for over a decade, if not longer.
Just tell me when will this nightmare be over. I can’t take much more of this @#$%!
IF you regulate premiums, you will force reductions in services. Reductions in services will inevitably cause errors and omissions. This is where the trial lawyers will be circling like sharks at a surfing contest. More lawsuits will bring less monies for services and more health care providers leaving the market. Pretty soon, it is just sharks and politicians that remain… The fat political piggies will be devoured last.
Obama has this nation’s checkbook and plans on making damn sure it goes deep into the red before he is terminated from office.
The man’s got a big ol’ chip on his shoulder about this country, and it’s people. 53% elected the enemy to rule them. God have mercy on us.