May, 2013 Obama Care Update, Part 1: Its Going To Be A Train Wreck and Other Impending Disasters

Okay, we have tried to stay away from the unfolding disaster that is Obama Care but the tidal wave of bad news is about to overwhelm us. Thus, we need to take some time out to review how much worse the ramifications of Obama Care is likely to be or have been already. Be forewarned: The bad news is so bad that this will take well more than one post.

1) Senator Charles Schumer from New York has long been a strong advocate for Obama Care. There are video clips back in 2009 and 2010 that show his strong argument that Obama Care legislation would reduce health care costs. This reduction in the nation’s health care costs was the major selling point of the law and the reason to push it through before anyone could read and analyze the impacts.

Well, apparently that argument no longer holds water. Consider recent the remarks of that same Senator in an interview he gave to the NBC news affiliate in Rochester, New York:

Our insurance department is empowered to protect families and we’re going to watch them like a hawk to make sure they do, because if they don’t, these rates could go through the roof … It’s in part because of Obama Care, but health care costs have been going up in double digits for years and years and years. The good news is in this bill, there’s a way to stop it.

Couple of observations:

• Insurance rates “could go through the roof...It’s in part because of Obama Care.” But, Senator, you promised insurance rates would not go up because of Obama Care.
• Yes, health care costs have been going up by double digits for years but this legislation was supposed to stop it not contribute to it. What happened?
• What is the good news in this bill that is supposed to stop the escalating costs? So far, none of the supporters of the legislation have been able to find this so-called “good news,” including yourself. Please share the “good news” for those of us that have not yet seen the light.

More double talk as hysterical Obama Care supporters try more and more convoluted logic and double speak to justify their votes and support for this disastrous legislation. Three years later they still have not explained how this thing is supposed to reduce costs, possibly because they have no clue how it is supposed achieve that magic.

2) Montana U.S. Senator, Max Baucus, another early and rabid supporter of the Obama Care legislation, was much clearer than the good Senator from New York in describing what Obama Care will likely resemble. He called it a “train wreck.” “Train wreck” is never a good adjective when describing anything and it takes on an especially bad connotation when one of any legislation’s main supporters gives it that designation.

3) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was one of the prime drivers of Obama Care and helped shove it through the Senate without allowing enough time for anyone to understand what was in it, so he has been an advocate of the legislation from Day 1.

He and other Democrats were the ones that established the financial parameters and forecasts of the legislation, they told us what the cost would be, and how much it would reduce health care costs to individuals and the nation. The Republicans had nothing to do with the numbers and estimates, they were shut out of the process by Reid, Pelosi, and Obama.

However, as time has gone by, things have started to unravel with regard to the numbers:

• A bill that was sold to the nation as one that would cost under $900 billion in the first ten years now has an official price tag that is about double the original estimate just three years later.
• A main positive revenue contributor to the entire legislation was supposed to be the long term care aspect of the bill, the CLASS process. That process has already been shut down far short of its positive financial contribution to the overall financials.
• Another main positive contributor to the legislation’s financial projections was supposed to be the tax on medical devices. But 17 Democratic Senators, who originally voted to approve Obama Care, now want to repeal that tax since medical device manufacturers are putting pressure on them to do so in order to save their device businesses. If the tax is repealed, another positive financial contributor to the legislation will be shut down.
• Today and in the next few days we will cite other examples that illustrate the deteriorating condition of the Obama Care business case and financials.

How does Washington fix this disaster regarding the financials? Seems, if you are Harry Reid, you fix it like they fix everything in Washington, just spend more money, have more good money follow bad money down the drain. Consider the highlights from a recent radio interview Harry Reid gave to a Nevada radio station, as summarized in a May 5, 2013 article by The Hill:

• Reid said he actually shares peers’ concerns that Obama Care could become a “train wreck” if not implemented properly.
• Reid warned that citizens will not be able to choose health insurance plans on government health exchanges if the Federal government lacks the resources to establish them up and educate the public. Code word alert: “lack the resources” usually means they government needs to spend more money.
• “Max said unless we implement this properly it’s going to be a train wreck, and I agree with him,” Reid said, echoing the warning delivered last month by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
• Wait for it…Reid warned the Federal government is not spending enough money to implement the law because of Republican opposition to Obama Care. Remember, the Republicans had nothing to do with setting up the law and the financial parameters but somehow it is their fault that this legislation is costing far more and delivering far less than Reid, Obama, and Pelosi promised.
• “Here’s what we have now, we have the menu but we don’t have any way to get to the menu,” Reid said. Maybe they should not have spent so much taxpayer money on developing the menu and more on actually addressing the root causes of our high health care costs.
• The shortage of funding to implement the law has forced President Obama to shift funds from other parts of the law, according to Reid. In other words, they screwed up the financial impact forecasts so badly that some of the other potential positive aspects of the legislation that were promised will not occur since they are shifting funding around to fulfill the exchanges and public education needs.

So let’s summarize Mr. Reid’s comments for him: “I believe in the bill and took credit for getting it approved without the help of any Republicans. I and other supporters put together all of the financial impacts and forecasts of the legislation without any help from the Republicans. Now that it is falling apart and costs are skyrocketing while potential positive aspects of the legislation are being abandoned, it is the Republicans’ fault. In order to fix what the Republicans screwed up, we need to spend a boat load more money to get Obama Care off the ground”

What a pathetic attempt at legislation, what a train wreck, and ducking the blame for the whole disaster.

4) Consider the latest poll findings as reported in a recent Politico article that further illustrate the floundering popularity of Obama Care:

• According to a monthly poll done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Obama Care‘s support amount among Americans is now down at 35%.
• This low level is tied with its lowest level of support since it was enacted in March, 2010.
• The poll found that only 35% of Americans view Obama Care ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ favorably, down 8 percentage points since Election Day, 2012.
• The poll actually found that with just a few months until the key provisions of the law go into effect, more than 40% of Americans don’t even know that it is on the books.
• About half of that 40% believe it has already been repealed by Congress or overturned by the Supreme Court.
• The rest of that 40% aren’t sure what is going on.
• Just over half of Americans, 53%, say that they approve of efforts by opponents to change or stop the law “so it has less impact on taxpayers, employers, and health care providers.”
• In another measure of dwindling support, about one in three respondents believe that the law’s opponents should accept that it is the law of the land and stop trying to block its implementation, down from January’s finding of support at 40%, i.e. those supporting the legislation has dropped over 17% in just four months.

At least Americans are starting to understand how bad this legislation is and how ignorant they still are about what it all means, a disgrace against all of those politicians who wrote legislation and supported but their education job has been so pathetic.

5) We will leave you with one last piece of bad news relative to the legislation today and then continue on tomorrow. Elizabeth Colbert Busch, a Democrat who unsuccesssfully ran for a Congressional seat in South Carolina, recently showed that she couldn't get away from the Obama Care fast enough in the run up to the election she was in. She publicly called Obama Care “extremely problematic,” which is political code word for holy moly, this is going to be a real problem that I do not want to be anywhere near when it explodes.

First Baucus, then Reid, now Busch, the rats are starting to jump ship and leaving us all behind holding the Obama Care bag. Which is a specific topic we will review tomorrow, the secret negotiations in Washington that the political class is having to exempt themselves and their top aides from the throes of the bill that they put together but personally want no part of.

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