Thursday, March 13, 2014

Obamacare Is Really A Mirage: It's There But It Really Isn't There

You're too Canadian if: You're laughing at Obamacare...Tim McRaw, comedian

  • In the past, I've called Obamacare a hoax. I still believe it is but with a twist. It's more like a mirage.  Obamacare is there but it really isn't there.
  • Why do I say that? Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that the Obama administration mandated yet another delay. This one the individual mandate---allegedly the heart of the law. The Journal wrote about this new authorization: "In a word...these shifting legal benchmarks offer an exemption to anyone who could conceivably want one." All someone has to do is say he/she cannot find affordable coverage (no mention of how it affects transgenders). This delay comes on the heels of the employer mandate last month.
  • Also this week, Health and Human Services reported that 4.2 million Americans have signed up for Obamacare(  approximately 6 millions Americans have already lost their health insurance). But even the administration had to admit they don't know how many enrollees have actually paid for the plans. According to the administration, their accounts-payable system is still not fully operational (keep in mind, they've had four years to get their act together on one of the most important pieces to any payment plan). We do know in seven states only 79% of enrollees have actually paid their premiums.
  • Just as embarrassing, only about 25% of those between the ages of 18 and 35 years of age have enrolled. According to Health and Human Services themselves, they need about 35% of that age group to sign up to sustain the entire program. They need younger Americans to sign up to counter the expensive health care costs of treating older---and usually sicker---patients. Earlier this year, Humana reported enrollment in its exchanges have been far "more adverse than previously expected." In other words, enrollees  have been less healthy. But shed no tears for insurance companies.  Obamacare directed $1T to insurance companies to help enrollees in the form of subsidies.
  • All of these delays and exemptions are being done for one reason only. As Rich Lowry recently wrote: "What the administration is doing now is unilaterally changing the law four years after its passage to try to delay the economic and political pain past a congressional election." However, I personally prefer Michelle Malkin's charge: "It's {Obamacare} not salvation. It's a criminal enterprise rooted in ideological fraud."