ObamaCare Blues

Nobody I know is in favor of the health care bill the Democrats are ramrodding through Congress. Maybe that is saying something about my circle of friends and acquaintances. Since my blog here at www.discovertruth.com also cross-posts in Facebook, I'm hopeful some Facebook liberals or Democrats or anyone in favor of ObamaCare can help me out. I know quite a few people who are vehemently opposed because they believe ObamaCare will be more harmful to our economy than the bailouts and takeovers of the financial and automotive sectors. Common sense and basic economic principles lead me to the same conclusion.

I'm open to listening to someone, anyone, who can help me understand why ObamaCare is good. If you're in favor of ObamaCare, please tell me why! A friend of mine was engaged in a similar dialog. He too is unconvinced that ObamaCare is good. He explains why in this email to his sister. He gave me permission to share it here.

Dear Sis,

I suspect there are some facts you have not taken into consideration regarding ObamaCare. I downloaded the proposed law a while back and examined it carefully. Have you read it? Has your Congressman even read it?

We agree that ObamaCare does not help the rich, it just raises their taxes.

We agree that ObamaCare does not help the poor, they already get free health care (through Medicaid).

We agree that ObamaCare does not help most of the people in the middle, whose employers (or spouse's employers) already pay for health insurance.

The relatively small number (10%) of people in the middle whose employers cannot afford to pay for health insurance, and the people who are not employed, are the ones we disagree over.

First of all, we need to recognize that these people in the middle can buy health insurance TODAY if they want to. It's very expensive because health insurance is like that. In addition to paying all those expensive doctor and hospital bills and prescription drugs, the insurance companies also have to pay for their own administrators and the extra paperwork caused by government regulations and their CEO's expensive new car. The people on no insurance only pay for the doctors and the hospital and the pills. You could buy health insurance for you and your minor child TODAY, if you want to, but it would cost you more than you are paying out-of-pocket for doctor visits and medications. That's because the insurance companies must make a profit if they are going to stay in business. If they don't make any money, they just close their doors and you can't get their services at all.

ObamaCare does not help those people in the middle like you and me, who COULD buy health insurance TODAY, but don't want to pay as much as it would cost. All the new law does is force us to buy insurance that is too expensive today and still too expensive under ObamaCare, or else pay hundreds of dollars in new taxes, or else ObamaCare sends them to jail if they refuse. I read the proposed law, that's what it says. That part was in Obama's original plan.

Many of the people in the middle work at minimum-wage jobs where their employer cannot afford to pay for health care. ObamaCare also raises the taxes on those employers in an effort to force them to pay for health insurance, but the taxes, while burdensome, are less than the actual cost of health insurance, so many (perhaps most) of those companies will still not pay for health insurance. To the extent that they are small businesses operating on a shoestring they will not be able to stay in business, and all those people will be out of a job. At least then they can go on welfare and get free health care.

ObamaCare promises to make health insurance "affordable". That's a lie. They can't. They might subsidize the premiums for the poor people otherwise on Medicaid, but they already get their health care for free. People like you and me won't see any significant help. The premiums less the subsidies will still cost more than just paying the medical bills ourselves, the way we do TODAY.

One more thing: Taxes go up for everybody, because *somebody* has to pay for those subsidies. The poor people who pay no taxes today, some of them will still pay no taxes, but people like me (I paid no taxes last year) will pay up to $1000 in new taxes. The rich people who pay no taxes today, will still pay no taxes, for the same reasons. Their cronies in the White House will continue to look the other way and let them off the hook. It's called "Chicago politics" and Obama is in that game.

All the rest of the people with any livable income will pay increased taxes. I calculated what ObamaCare would do to me, if it were the law this year, and I would have to pay $800 more in taxes -- and my income is below Federal Poverty Level.

That's what I see in ObamaCare. That's why I don't like it.

Now, tell me how is it going to help anybody? I really want to know.

You could start by telling me how ObamaCare helps *ME*. Or yourself. Your minor son is already covered by the new Childrens Health Act passed last year under Bush. All ObamaCare does is penalize you for not paying for it.

Signed,

Perplexed Brother