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All the Bad News
About Obamacare, Single Payer, and Medicaid Expansion SINGLE PAYER - a colossally bad idea for lots of reasons - “This is a great service for all of us.” - “You’re the only one doing anything on this. It’s very helpful.” - healthcare policy analyst REPEAL OBAMACARE NOW! - legalize true catastrophic insurance - return Medicaid to a poverty program End the Obamacare Congressional Exemption! |
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10/14/22 - Obamacare a Self-Inflicted Wound
The dictatorial Biden administration just made five million more Americans eligible for Obamacare with the stroke of a pen. Workers who are offered family coverage by their employers that is deemed unaffordable can now get subsidies to purchase Obamacare family policies, instead. This decision, done by administrative rule-making, should have been left to Congress. How do we know? Because the Obama administration said it didn’t have the authority to change the law on its own. Plowing straight ahead, the Biden administration has just obligated taxpayers to tens of billions of dollars in new spending in a constitutional system where the House is supposed to have the power of the purse.
Still rescuing Obamacare after all these years. This thing’s a turkey. Another recent change - extending jumbo subsidies for three years - was an attempt to shore up Obamacare and buy votes. But this turkey still won’t fly. Enrollment is still nowhere near what they promised ten years ago. CBO estimated the jumbo subsidies would goose enrollment to 16 million, and changing the family rule would net another one million, leaving enrollment ten years on still far short of the 21 million they promised. So the administration can spend $100 million on navigators to dragoon people into signing up for Obamacare but - face it, folks - Obamacare just isn’t all that popular.
They also promised Obamacare would save people $2,500 a year on insurance. That never happened. Prices never went down. They went up in a straight line after Obamacare was passed. Stands to reason - subsidize something like college tuition or health insurance and, sure enough, the price goes up. The jumbo subsidies guarantee the price of Obamacare will keep going up, too.
Obamacare prices will be higher next year - 6.6 percent higher in Maryland and 7.2 percent in Wisconsin. They’re the lucky ones. Obamacare prices will go up 10 percent overall next year, more than inflation. Increases in Florida will be as high as 12 percent and - get this - as much as 46 percent higher in New York. Good grief!
Meanwhile, Obamacare continues to cause other problems. Expensive Obamacare continues to squeeze private insurance out of the market, leaving more people dependent on government-run health care programs. From 2020 to 2021, the number of private plans decreased 1.5 million while the number of people on Medicare and Medicaid went up nearly 5 million. [Steve Moore newsletter - 9/15/22]
Nancy Pelosi promised Obamacare would let people retire so they could play the violin. The opposite happened. Letting children stay on their parents’ Obamacare policies to age 26 caused ‘job lock’. People with children are more likely to stay in their current job, not less likely, because of Obamacare.
The Obamacare Healthcare.gov enrollment site has now cost $2.1 billion. You might remember this thing was called a ‘train wreck’ by a prominent Democrat when it first rolled out.
Thanks to Joe Biden’s inflation, your Thanksgiving turkey will cost more this year - 20 percent more, to be exact. But that’s still a bargain compared to the price of Obamacare, which has more than doubled since it began. Think about that - what actually happened with the Democrats’ last crazy idea - before you fall for their next crazy idea.
The dictatorial Biden administration just made five million more Americans eligible for Obamacare with the stroke of a pen. Workers who are offered family coverage by their employers that is deemed unaffordable can now get subsidies to purchase Obamacare family policies, instead. This decision, done by administrative rule-making, should have been left to Congress. How do we know? Because the Obama administration said it didn’t have the authority to change the law on its own. Plowing straight ahead, the Biden administration has just obligated taxpayers to tens of billions of dollars in new spending in a constitutional system where the House is supposed to have the power of the purse.
Still rescuing Obamacare after all these years. This thing’s a turkey. Another recent change - extending jumbo subsidies for three years - was an attempt to shore up Obamacare and buy votes. But this turkey still won’t fly. Enrollment is still nowhere near what they promised ten years ago. CBO estimated the jumbo subsidies would goose enrollment to 16 million, and changing the family rule would net another one million, leaving enrollment ten years on still far short of the 21 million they promised. So the administration can spend $100 million on navigators to dragoon people into signing up for Obamacare but - face it, folks - Obamacare just isn’t all that popular.
They also promised Obamacare would save people $2,500 a year on insurance. That never happened. Prices never went down. They went up in a straight line after Obamacare was passed. Stands to reason - subsidize something like college tuition or health insurance and, sure enough, the price goes up. The jumbo subsidies guarantee the price of Obamacare will keep going up, too.
Obamacare prices will be higher next year - 6.6 percent higher in Maryland and 7.2 percent in Wisconsin. They’re the lucky ones. Obamacare prices will go up 10 percent overall next year, more than inflation. Increases in Florida will be as high as 12 percent and - get this - as much as 46 percent higher in New York. Good grief!
Meanwhile, Obamacare continues to cause other problems. Expensive Obamacare continues to squeeze private insurance out of the market, leaving more people dependent on government-run health care programs. From 2020 to 2021, the number of private plans decreased 1.5 million while the number of people on Medicare and Medicaid went up nearly 5 million. [Steve Moore newsletter - 9/15/22]
Nancy Pelosi promised Obamacare would let people retire so they could play the violin. The opposite happened. Letting children stay on their parents’ Obamacare policies to age 26 caused ‘job lock’. People with children are more likely to stay in their current job, not less likely, because of Obamacare.
The Obamacare Healthcare.gov enrollment site has now cost $2.1 billion. You might remember this thing was called a ‘train wreck’ by a prominent Democrat when it first rolled out.
Thanks to Joe Biden’s inflation, your Thanksgiving turkey will cost more this year - 20 percent more, to be exact. But that’s still a bargain compared to the price of Obamacare, which has more than doubled since it began. Think about that - what actually happened with the Democrats’ last crazy idea - before you fall for their next crazy idea.
7/28/22 - Wrong Way Obamacare
Senate Democrats and the White House reached agreement on another big tax-and-spend bill that would, among other things, extend expanded Obamacare subsidies for three years, well past the next presidential election - how convenient. The agreement was made possible when Senator Joe Manchin reversed himself on key provisions. A vote could come next week.
The subsidies were expanded in March 2021, supposedly temporarily as part of COVID relief. Continuing jumbo Obamacare subsidies is a bad idea for several reasons. First, they subsidize wealthy people who make three times the national median income. They can receive $7,800 a year in taxpayer money to subsidize their health insurance. Are you kidding me? Second, the jumbo subsidies hide the true cost of insurance. Premiums were slated to go up substantially - an average of 10 percent nationally - but they would go up less if the bill is passed. Democrats were freaking out about huge price increases hitting consumers right before the November elections and they would lose votes as a result, but they won’t have to worry if the bill becomes law. Third, the jumbo subsidies would cost far more than the Democrats claim. A CBO analysis shows the subsidies would add $248 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade. Fourth, 2.3 million people would lose their job-based coverage as employers fob off health insurance costs to the federal government. It’s never a good idea to deliberately make more people dependent on the government, but that’s what the Democrats live for.
Obamacare is still a turkey, jumbo subsidies or no. The Affordable Care Act has steadily become less affordable over time. In 2015, half of middle-class families paid 7.7 percent or more of their income on the lowest-cost ACA bronze plan. But in 2019, the cost swelled to 11.3 percent and, for 55 to 64-year-olds, 19 percent. Also, drug spending went up 2 percent a year between 2015 and 2019 for people in large group plans, but 11 percent for those with individual plans because of Obamacare’s guaranteed issue preexisting condition coverage, restrictions on true underwriting, and other regulations.
We have fresh reminders of other problems with Obamacare: It limits popular short-term health insurance, which prevents some people from getting insurance at all. It bans physician-owned hospitals, which makes zero sense unless you’re a special interest afraid of competition from people who know what they’re doing. Finally, the lies used to sell this turkey continue. Joe Biden recently claimed 100 million people would lose their health insurance if Obamacare’s preexisting condition coverage went away. That was too much even for the left-wing Washington Post which gave Biden two Pinocchios for his specious claim. Biden inflated the number by including people who would face price increases, but not lose their coverage. He also included people on employer plans which typically had preexisting condition coverage before Obamacare ever came along.
Never-ending jumbo subsidies, a string of broken promises and lies, declining affordability, herding people into government dependency - there’s not a lot to like here. We’ve gone the wrong direction and the Democrats remind me of ‘Wrong Way’ Corrigan who tried to fly from New York to California, but ended up in Ireland. Wish us the luck of the Irish - we’re going to need it.
Senate Democrats and the White House reached agreement on another big tax-and-spend bill that would, among other things, extend expanded Obamacare subsidies for three years, well past the next presidential election - how convenient. The agreement was made possible when Senator Joe Manchin reversed himself on key provisions. A vote could come next week.
The subsidies were expanded in March 2021, supposedly temporarily as part of COVID relief. Continuing jumbo Obamacare subsidies is a bad idea for several reasons. First, they subsidize wealthy people who make three times the national median income. They can receive $7,800 a year in taxpayer money to subsidize their health insurance. Are you kidding me? Second, the jumbo subsidies hide the true cost of insurance. Premiums were slated to go up substantially - an average of 10 percent nationally - but they would go up less if the bill is passed. Democrats were freaking out about huge price increases hitting consumers right before the November elections and they would lose votes as a result, but they won’t have to worry if the bill becomes law. Third, the jumbo subsidies would cost far more than the Democrats claim. A CBO analysis shows the subsidies would add $248 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade. Fourth, 2.3 million people would lose their job-based coverage as employers fob off health insurance costs to the federal government. It’s never a good idea to deliberately make more people dependent on the government, but that’s what the Democrats live for.
Obamacare is still a turkey, jumbo subsidies or no. The Affordable Care Act has steadily become less affordable over time. In 2015, half of middle-class families paid 7.7 percent or more of their income on the lowest-cost ACA bronze plan. But in 2019, the cost swelled to 11.3 percent and, for 55 to 64-year-olds, 19 percent. Also, drug spending went up 2 percent a year between 2015 and 2019 for people in large group plans, but 11 percent for those with individual plans because of Obamacare’s guaranteed issue preexisting condition coverage, restrictions on true underwriting, and other regulations.
We have fresh reminders of other problems with Obamacare: It limits popular short-term health insurance, which prevents some people from getting insurance at all. It bans physician-owned hospitals, which makes zero sense unless you’re a special interest afraid of competition from people who know what they’re doing. Finally, the lies used to sell this turkey continue. Joe Biden recently claimed 100 million people would lose their health insurance if Obamacare’s preexisting condition coverage went away. That was too much even for the left-wing Washington Post which gave Biden two Pinocchios for his specious claim. Biden inflated the number by including people who would face price increases, but not lose their coverage. He also included people on employer plans which typically had preexisting condition coverage before Obamacare ever came along.
Never-ending jumbo subsidies, a string of broken promises and lies, declining affordability, herding people into government dependency - there’s not a lot to like here. We’ve gone the wrong direction and the Democrats remind me of ‘Wrong Way’ Corrigan who tried to fly from New York to California, but ended up in Ireland. Wish us the luck of the Irish - we’re going to need it.
Give It a Rest, Bernie
May 16, 2022
Bernie Sanders reintroduced Medicare for All legislation in the Senate, recently. He should give it a rest. His single payer proposal hasn’t gotten any better with time. Witnesses and Republican senators tore it to shreds in a hearing last week.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin pointed to the government’s “miserable failures” on testing, restrictions on treatment, and its other sorry responses to the COVID pandemic. “Why in the world would anybody put government more in charge of health care?,” he asked. He said there will be more bureaucracy, not less, if the government takes over all healthcare, producing less innovation and higher costs.
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said Bernie’s plan would abolish Medicare and private insurance. Worse, it would “have the federal government deciding which procedures you get and when you get them. Think about that...Do you want the government to make these choices for you?”
A healthcare policy expert testified Bernie’s plan to pay doctors and hospitals 30 to 40 percent less would force many physician practices and hospitals to close or significantly cut back on services (p.11). If you think we have a doctor shortage now, just wait. She further testified Bernie’s plan would also cut access to new medications and pull the rug out from under new drug development, including new cancer treatments (p.13). She noted single payer supporters keep saying nationalized healthcare would cut administrative costs, but claims would still need to be processed which means the administrative cost differential would largely be a wash (p. 13).
A budget expert testified the additional cost of Bernie’s 2017 plan, over and above current federal healthcare spending, would be around $38 trillion in the first 10 years (p.2). If you add in current spending, the total cost is more like $60 trillion (p.3). You could double all personal and corporate income taxes, and it still wouldn’t be enough to pay for single payer (p.2). As I’ve commented before, there’s never enough money to pay for single payer. The National Health Service in Britain is always running out of money and asking for more.
The arguments for and against single payer haven’t changed much in years. Arguments against single payer coming back around recently include it would raise taxes thereby reducing GDP and the incentives to work and invest; produce massive fraud; and lead inescapably to rationing and long wait times as other countries have found out. Most insidious of all, though, is how single payer will completely politicize all of medicine. The kind of care you get will depend on who you know in high places. Care will be doled out to privileged classes, perhaps even by race and ethnicity. The federal government is already moving in that direction, now requiring private insurers selling Medicare Advantage plans or Obamacare plans through government exchanges to report race and ethnicity data beginning in 2023 (p. 1).
Bernie and his supporters know all about these problems, but never talk about them. All you get from them is happy talk. That should make you deeply suspicious of their motives. Do they really want better healthcare for all, or are they just looking for a way to control the people, as a congressman let slip during the Obamacare fight?
When Bernie and other single payer supporters stop the happy talk and start addressing the very real problems their proposals will cause, then I might start to listen. Until then, my message to them is ‘in the future, you will control no one and be happy.’
May 16, 2022
Bernie Sanders reintroduced Medicare for All legislation in the Senate, recently. He should give it a rest. His single payer proposal hasn’t gotten any better with time. Witnesses and Republican senators tore it to shreds in a hearing last week.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin pointed to the government’s “miserable failures” on testing, restrictions on treatment, and its other sorry responses to the COVID pandemic. “Why in the world would anybody put government more in charge of health care?,” he asked. He said there will be more bureaucracy, not less, if the government takes over all healthcare, producing less innovation and higher costs.
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said Bernie’s plan would abolish Medicare and private insurance. Worse, it would “have the federal government deciding which procedures you get and when you get them. Think about that...Do you want the government to make these choices for you?”
A healthcare policy expert testified Bernie’s plan to pay doctors and hospitals 30 to 40 percent less would force many physician practices and hospitals to close or significantly cut back on services (p.11). If you think we have a doctor shortage now, just wait. She further testified Bernie’s plan would also cut access to new medications and pull the rug out from under new drug development, including new cancer treatments (p.13). She noted single payer supporters keep saying nationalized healthcare would cut administrative costs, but claims would still need to be processed which means the administrative cost differential would largely be a wash (p. 13).
A budget expert testified the additional cost of Bernie’s 2017 plan, over and above current federal healthcare spending, would be around $38 trillion in the first 10 years (p.2). If you add in current spending, the total cost is more like $60 trillion (p.3). You could double all personal and corporate income taxes, and it still wouldn’t be enough to pay for single payer (p.2). As I’ve commented before, there’s never enough money to pay for single payer. The National Health Service in Britain is always running out of money and asking for more.
The arguments for and against single payer haven’t changed much in years. Arguments against single payer coming back around recently include it would raise taxes thereby reducing GDP and the incentives to work and invest; produce massive fraud; and lead inescapably to rationing and long wait times as other countries have found out. Most insidious of all, though, is how single payer will completely politicize all of medicine. The kind of care you get will depend on who you know in high places. Care will be doled out to privileged classes, perhaps even by race and ethnicity. The federal government is already moving in that direction, now requiring private insurers selling Medicare Advantage plans or Obamacare plans through government exchanges to report race and ethnicity data beginning in 2023 (p. 1).
Bernie and his supporters know all about these problems, but never talk about them. All you get from them is happy talk. That should make you deeply suspicious of their motives. Do they really want better healthcare for all, or are they just looking for a way to control the people, as a congressman let slip during the Obamacare fight?
When Bernie and other single payer supporters stop the happy talk and start addressing the very real problems their proposals will cause, then I might start to listen. Until then, my message to them is ‘in the future, you will control no one and be happy.’