It never had a chance to be successful since it really never addressed the underlying root causes of our ever increasing health costs in the country:
- Americans eat too much of the wrong kind of food, resulting in obscenely high obesity rates for the country.
- Our food chain is infested with overdoses of high fructose corn syrup, salt, sugar, and other unhealthy additives.
- Americans smoke too much.
- Americans do not exercise enough.
- The country is in serious need of health care tort reform.
- Barriers to insurance company competition across state lines need to come down.
- Obama Care never “followed the money” to find out who is actually profiting from the ever escalating healthcare costs in this country and how to get those factors under control.
- Obama Care never got the immense amount of fraud and abuse in current government healthcare programs, Medicare and Medicaid, under control in order to save money to efficiently fund other government health care initiatives.
- Obama Care never put serious research money towards curing the major diseases that drive high healthcare costs such as high frequency cancers and dementia type diseases.
But it is not just missing the root causes of our healthcare costs that makes Obama Care so horrible. It resulted in millions of Americans losing access to their favored doctors, hospitals, and insurance policies. It has caused insurance premiums, deductibles and copays to escalate substantially. It will likely add trillions of dollars to the national debt. It has exposed millions of Americans to higher than necessary identity theft chances. It has created government bureaucracies that are wastefully spending taxpayer wealth and being exploited by criminal elements. It has stifled economic growth and job creation.
These are just a sample of the types of idiocy that we have been reviewing for the past several years in this blog relative to Obama Care. To read those past posts, just enter the phrase, “the unfolding disaster,” in the search box above.
As we often do in this series, let's finish this month's Obama Care disaster review with some real life stories of disaster from real life Americans to see how badly Obama Care affected people at the family and individual level. As always, our source of these tragedies is from the following website:
www.ourhealthcarestories.com
RICHARD, MONTANA: I'm currently paying $229 per month on a plan from Humana that does exactly what I want. It'll keep me from going broke if something bad happens.
That Humana plan does not comply with ObamaCare. So it will be cancelled at some point. Originally it was scheduled to be cancelled at the end of 2014, now I'm not sure if it will be extended to 2016 or what.
The least expensive policy I could find that complied with Ocare was about $500/mo. and that was for this year. My understanding is that compliant policies for 2015 will be about 20% higher. I hope I can keep the current policy for next year, but I don't know. I am displeased.
YVETTE, MAINE; "The least expensive of the new federal healthcare options will cost me $14,400 a year."
MICHAEL, VIRGINIA: About 5 years ago, I changed my health plan to an HSA through Anthem, to reduce my costs. We had just had our daughter, and the reduced plan seemed perfect in my favor. Gradually, that planned increased to 535/month by August 2010 - No thanks.
I switched to GoldenRule in 2011, and we enjoyed a 249/month plan, keeping my HSA. We have a 5k deductible. It increased yearly to 281, 317, and then 392 after adding my newborn son. Then the "Letter" came in August, something like "...due to rising healthcare costs...518/month."
The increases on my plan previously were in the 13% range, and suddenly it goes up 32% and we're in perfect health.
I scream when I hear the President say, that costs have not gone up as much as previous years...and I wonder who he's talking about. Any other plans I have investigated, just 1 in my current price range, are 10-20% higher for the same coverage, deductible, etc.
MICHAEL, NORTH CAROLINA; From the Charlotte Observer:
Michael Hood, 46, who lives near Winston-Salem, is another of the Blue Cross customers who is suffering sticker shock after receiving a recent renewal letter.
He and his wife, who is expecting their third child, now pay $324 per month for a plan with a $10,000 family deductible. The comparable plan suggested by Blue Cross for next year would cost $895.27 per month with an $11,000 family deductible. Their annual payment would rise from $14,000 to $24,000.
Self-employed as part owner of a medical device distributorship, Hood said he and his wife “try to live a healthy lifestyle and keep our medical costs down.” They chose the high-deductible plan to keep their premium low.
Hood said his income is about $85,000 a year, which would mean he might be able to qualify for a subsidy. He said he checked the online marketplace, which has been operating only sporadically this week, and didn’t think it looked like his family would be eligible.
One of the pluses of any new plan is that it will cover maternity care, which his current plan doesn’t. But “is that really worth paying $1,000 a month more for?”
“I’m angry that legislation has been passed that is forcing me to purchase something that otherwise I would not have to purchase,” Hood said.
MARIA, CALIFORNIA: Maria Berumen, a tax preparer in Downey, was uninsured for years because of preexisting conditions. The 53-year-old was thrilled to find coverage for herself and her husband for $148 a month after qualifying for a big government subsidy.
She jumped at the chance in early January to visit a primary-care doctor for long-running numbness in her arm and shoulder as a result of bone spurs on her spine. The doctor referred her to a specialist, and problems ensued. At least four doctors wouldn't accept her health plan — even though the state exchange website and her insurer, Health Net Inc., list them as part of her HMO network.
"It's a phantom network," Berumen said.
It was no surprise to her family doctor, Ragaa Iskarous. She has run into this problem repeatedly with other patients in the last month, the doctor said. "This is really driving us crazy."
TOM, LOUISIANA: Obamacare has required my insurance carrier to double my premium beginning Jan 2015. I will no longer be able to afford the premium. The reason the premium is being raised is to provide coverage required by Obamacare but for which I have no need. Obamacare is forcing me to forgo insurance I chose, and can pay for to having no insurance at all. I will have to cancel my insurance but I will send the bill to the fool of a senator who voted for the law, Mary Landrieu.
EMILY, FLORIDA: I'm a retiree that worked for a Fortune 500 Company and had Wonderful Insurance Coverage which included Medical, Hospital, Dental, Rx, Vision and Mental Health. Due to Obamacare I lost my Insurance because of the Employee Mandate.
I have Epilepsy, as a result I find myself in the emergency room often and admitted to the hospital all to often. Also, my prescription drugs cost are very high. The ACA did not meet my needs and what came close was not affordable and deductibles were very high. I took a policy on my own which was 3 times what I contributed through my employer but I had to cancel it because I could no longer afford it. So I have no insurance except Medicare. I had to go to the Hospital last week for 5 days, I don't know how I'm going to pay the bill.
Higher premiums, higher deductibles, narrow doctor networks, cancelled policies, paying for unneeded insurance, the list of Obama Care seems endless. Which means next month we will probably be back with more disasters from the disastrous legislation that keeps on giving.
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