Progressive Taking Points Memo: Obamacare Is Really A Conservative Idea?

Posted on December 24, 2013 by richmedia1 — No Comments ↓

Progressive Taking Points Memo:

Obamacare Is Really A Conservative Idea???

No, it’s not. Not even close.

After hearing for the umpteenth time that Obamacare was really a conservative initiative, I did a little research and found the original 1989 Heritage Foundation document. There was a household individual mandate involved…for catastrophic (high deductible major medical) insurance, which Heritage has since repudiated. Certain Republicans (Newt) also used points from this lecture during the Hillarycare debate. I’m not sure if this lecture ever represented official Heritage Foundation policy, there is a disclaimer which seems to suggest otherwise. The truth is that this outline has nothing in common with Obamacare today. The often heard progressive talking point is that Obamacare and the individual mandate is originally a conservative concept simply isn’t true. Most of the ideas put forth in the old Heritage plan reinforced individual choice and free market concepts, which are totally missing in Obamacare.

Here is the last concluding paragraph from the 1989 document:

A CONSUMER-BASED SYSTEM

All of these measures, from the basic tax treatment of health care to the encouragement of long-term care insurance, would introduce a far greater degree of consumer activism into the health care market. This strategy, combined with a requirement for basic health coverage and the focusing of government assistance to those who need it most, would change the foundations of health care in America. Rather than the current system with its built-in inflation and enormous gaps in coverage, the result would be a system providing not only coverage to all but also a powerful set of incentives for the health care industry to be as efficient and consumer sensitive as possible.

Heritage filed an Amicus Brief opposing the individual mandate as envisioned by Obamacare. Here is a quote from the Friend of the Court Brief:

“Heritage policy experts never supported an unqualified mandate like that in the PPACA [ObamaCare]. Their prior support for a qualified mandate was limited to catastrophic coverage (true insurance that is precisely what the PPACA forbids), coupled with tax relief for all families and other reforms that are conspicuously absent from the PPACA. Since then, a growing body of research has provided a strong basis to conclude that any government insurance mandate is not only unnecessary, but is a bad policy option. Moreover, Heritage’s legal scholars have been consistent in explaining that the type of mandate in the PPACA is unconstitutional.”

More background here:

How the Heritage Foundation, a Conservative Think Tank, Promoted the Individual Mandate

Optical Character Recognition enabled (OCR) PDF here:

1989 Heritage Health Care OCR

If You lIke Your Health Plan, You Can Keep It. Period.

Posted on November 15, 2013 by richmedia1 — 3 Comments ↓

If you like your health plan, you can keep it? Seriously, Mr President?

Most, if not all of us who were and are opposed to Obamacare knew at the time that that statement was a lie. You won’t be able to keep your doctor or hospital either.

Which leads me to the Question of the Day:

<Why should the GOP lift a hand to help dig the Mighty O out of the hole he’s dug for himself?>

The real answer is, they can’t.

Obama and the Dems have succeeded in destroying the finest health system the world has ever known, and none of us know the full extent of the damage yet. They have brazenly fashioned a noose as a neck-tie, and they will likely hang themselves with it.

While Obama pushed back the employer mandate, he did not suspend the law for those employers who already provide insurance. We will see those effects Jan 1.

His lame presser today means nothing. The law is the law, and any insurance company issuing private health insurance that does not comply with the law needs to fire their lawyers. He can’t say that we will show discretion via EO and provide immunity to the insurance companies for any potential litigation, and he has already shown that his word means nothing anyway.

The insurance companies will also not go along for a very practical reason, if they agree to revive the former policies, it will greatly reduce participation in the market exchanges, bringing on an insurance “death spiral”, which is coming anyway due to the ridiculously high rates being shown, if you are lucky enough to see them.

Boehner actually said something today that I agree with, there is no fixing Obamacare, other than a full repeal.

Anything less is suicide.

Rich TAkes! on Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2013 by richmedia1 — 3 Comments ↓

RichTAkes! on Halloween

Why Obamacare should scare the wits out of you.

More Americans In 3 States Have Had Their Insurance Canceled Under ObamaCare Than Have Filed An Exchange Account In All 50

total individual policy cancellations due to Obamacare projected to exceed 14 million

Continue reading Rich TAkes! on Halloween→

An Open Letter To Senator Joe Donnelly

Posted on September 24, 2013 by richmedia1 — 1 Comment ↓

Honorable Sir:

During the great healthcare debates of 2009-2010, you consistently stayed away from the fray, and after much hand-wringing, presented yourself as undecided up until the very last minute, when you voted for the ACA. After a little arm-wrestling from Hoyer and Pelosi, no doubt.

What exactly is the definition of a “moderate” Democrat?

A moderate would surely not wish to allow the finest health system in history to be destroyed piece by piece by granting total government control of health care to a bunch of government bureaucrats.The astounding number of thousands of exemptions and waivers granted by this administration should be reason enough to end support for this national travesty.

Businesses are unsure of what the future holds, so they are not expanding or hiring, and/or are converting full-time employees to part-time status.

Physician-owned hospitals are prevented from expanding under this Bill, and no new physician-owned hospitals may be opened. Is this what freedom and liberty is all about? I would say that current Med students will have a clear view that they will be serving at the whim of HHS under the provisions of the ACA.

My dear friend and partner suffered from degenerative hip disease, a genetic condition which deteriorated over time. After much research, she decided to pursue a new anterior approach to hip replacement, which neither Memorial nor St Joseph Hospitals offered. No muscle tissue or ligaments are cut using this method, as opposed to traditional hip replacements. We found one doctor in Kalamazoo, and another in Fort Wayne advertising this procedure, and at the last minute discovered that Unity Medical and Surgical Hospital on Edison Lakes Parkway in Mishawaka also offered this procedure. She had the procedure, was walking within three days, and was back to work in one week, as opposed to months and months of recuperation with traditional hip replacements.

The ACA will put an end to private free-enterprise approaches by physician-owned hospitals like Unity.

I also lost a sister-in-law to stage 3c ovarian cancer a couple of years ago, she made it 5 1/2 years, solely due to participating in three or more clinical trials, A couple of them worked, when she did not respond much to traditional chemo therapies. Sadly, the FDA has not approved these treatments for wide-spread use. While the FDA approval process is a separate issue, stage 3c or higher cancer patients have nothing to lose. I fear that there will be no incentive for these types of treatments under the ACA, especially since our dear President himself said that sometimes it might be better to just take a pain pill [and suffer your fate (paraphrased)].

The good news is, you now have a chance to redeem yourself as my representative in the Senate, and I strongly suggest to vote no on cloture concerning the up-coming Continuing Resolution.

Tag Archives: ACA