The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.
All Rights Reserved © 2006 – 2015 “Repairing The Healthcare System” Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
Stanley Feld MD, FACP, MACE
Socialism does not work!
Intellectually, socialism is attractive and easy to understand.
Simple Definition of Socialism
Full Definition of socialism
It would be nice to have the government tend to all our needs equally.
Everything would be free to the public.
The government would then run out of money because people would have little to be innovative about or have any incentive to work hard to provide for their family.
People would have little incentive to produce income that would generate taxes for government to spend on goods and services to support the benefits offered the people in a socialistic system.
The government would have to borrow more money from others because the people would not produce enough income to tax.
What lender would be inclined to lend money to a country that could not pay it back?
The socialistic system would then become unsustainable and collapse.
This explanation might be considered by some to be a fifth grade explanation of socialism. It is simple to understand but direct and to the point.
America is headed in that direction. The present healthcare system as is unsustainable.
Government cannot spend other peoples’ money when the money is not there.
In America the federal government and state governments keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
Obamacare’s regulations caused 335,000 healthcare insurance policies to be cancelled in Colorado. In 2010 Obamacare made these Coloradan healthcare insurance policies illegal.
Obamacare has failed for the citizens of Colorado.
The state’s politicians tried to fix Obamacare by borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government to set up Colorado HealthOP the state’s co-op health insurance plan.
The goal was to stimulate competition among insurance companies by providing lower priced insurance. The co-op is in debt to the federal government for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Colorado HealthOP became the largest insurer on a state health insurance exchange in Colorado.
Colorado HealthOp lost so much money that it could not borrow any more. The Colorado HealthOp had to shut down in October 2015 leaving the federal government to absorb its loan to the state of Colorado.
The closure of Colorado HealthOP left 80,000 Coloradans without health insurance coverage for 2016.
The other state insurance plans are increasing premiums an average of 11.7% to stay above water according to state calculations.
It has made premiums and deductibles too expensive for many of these uninsured 80,000 people.
Coloradans are tired of all the insurance changes, increasing prices and uncertainty. They want something new.
The knee jerk reaction is to change to something easy to understand. A socialistic single party payer system (SPPS) is the easiest to understand. Let the state provide healthcare insurance to everyone. Healthcare would be universal and free to the public.
The problem is nothing is free. The advocates in Colorado (progressives and liberals) are mobilizing to replace Obamacare with either the Canadian or United Kingdom healthcare system.
However, both of these nations healthcare systems are unsustainable. They are failing because of the cost, inefficiency, long wait times for diagnosis and treatment and lack of services despite the governments claims and some of the consumers’ perceptions.
The progressive advocates accumulated 100,000 Coloradans’ signatures. These progressive democrats have gotten a single party payer (SPPS) proposal on the 2016 ballot.
The conservatives in Colorado do not have a proposal to replace Obamacare to put on the ballot in 2016. They have been asleep at the switch.
Conservatives and libertarians have been sleeping at the switch in every state except Vermont.
Conservatives and libertarians did nothing in Vermont. Peter Shumlin was elected governor to institute a SPPS.
The Vermont experiment with a single party payer system has been a disaster already.
Jonathan Gruber, who designed Obamacare, and thinks Americans are stupid, along with William Hsiao, who thinks price controls work designed the system for Vermont.
Vermont played right into President Obama’s goal of creating a single party payer system (SPPS). Colorado is trying to follow the same path to disaster.
The Obama administration provided Vermont with many millions of dollars in federal grants in order to accomplish President Obama’s dream of a single party payer healthcare system.
In order to pay for Vermont’s SPPS the state proposed an 11.5% payroll tax on businesses, which would have taken the total payroll-tax burden to nearly 20%.
Vermont contemplated a new state income tax of 9.5% to pay for the SPPS on top of the existing 3.55-8.95% individual state tax.
The state budget would need to be doubled with the SPPS, therefore taxes would need to be doubled.
Even with these increases in taxes the plan would be deep in the red in three to five years.
Gov. Shumlin (Vermont) was elected to create a SPPS. In 2014 he abandoned single payer system he was about to create because of its effect on the state economy.
Gov. Peter Shumlin woke up to the impending disaster, “The potential economic disruption and risks,” he remarked, “would be too great to small businesses, working families and the state’s economy.”
Ben and Jerry might even flee the state and move to Texas because of the high taxes and economic disruption.
The people of Colorado should look carefully at Vermont’s mistake. The Denver Post has already predicted tax increases that would drive business and job growth out of the state.
Colorado also has a large VA Hospital System. In April 2015 the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that four of Colorado’s VA facilities were among the 10-worst in terms of wait times of all VA hospitals.
The Veterans Affairs hospital system is a pure a single-payer system.
“ A September report by the agency’s inspector general supports the conclusion that thousands of veterans may have died while waiting for the care they needed, although shoddy record-keeping made it impossible to know for sure.”
All Coloradans have to look at is their state’s VA SPPS that cannot take care of the 400,000 veterans in the state. Why should Coloradans expect a SPPS would work for five (5) million residents it their state?
What have conservatives and liberations offered as a substitute for the failed Obamacare experiment?
Nothing!
Leaders should start looking at My Ideal Medical Savings Account system that would put consumers in charge of their health and healthcare dollars.
Spread the word about My Ideal Medical Savings Account as an alternative to Obamacare.
I wish everyone a HAPPY AND HEALTHY HOLIDAY SEASON
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.
All Rights Reserved © 2006 – 2015 “Repairing The Healthcare System” Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
A simple definition of well-informed in Merrian Websters dictionary of is:
A simple definition disinformation in Merrian Websters dictionary of is:
Most of us like to be well-informed. It is almost impossible for a person to be well informed about a subject that they are casually interested in when President Obama and his administration control the information. It does not matter what the subject is.
The traditional mainstream media led by the New York Times picks up on the administration’s press releases. The traditional mainstream media then pretends to help us become well-informed citizens.
The problem is we are feed disinformation and have the truth hidden from view.
The First Amendment protects Americans. Students of an issue can see through the disinformation. These students of an issue attempt to inform themselves and others using by connecting facts from government reports to help people become well informed about the facts.
The use of these facts through the Internet is driving President Obama and his administration crazy. The administration is having trouble controlling the message.
President Obama is trying to control the media in many subtle ways
The New York Times, on Thursday December 9th, published a stunning example of disinformation.
I signed up for the New York Times Daily Briefing to stay “well informed” on multiple current events according to the New York Times.
The Thursday December 10th headline was:
7:13 AM (3 hours ago) | |||||
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“Here’s a story from The New York Times I thought you’d find interesting:
Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
Read More: http://nyti.ms/1Q2A3vQ
Get The New York Times on your mobile device
Here is one of the topics covered in the daily
One million new customers have signed up for health insurance during the Affordable Care Act’s third open-enrollment season. The deadline for coverage beginning Jan. 1 is Tuesday.
At the same time, a little-noticed provision that Senator Marco Rubio slipped into a giant spending law is quietly undermining the health care law.
It is impressive that “One million new customers have signed up for health insurance during the Affordable Care Act’s third open-enrollment season. The deadline for coverage beginning Jan. 1 is Tuesday.”
Confirmed 2016 Exchange QHPs: 3,260,356 as of 12/09/15 Estimated 2016 Exchange QHPs: 4.73M as of 12/09/15 (3.60M via HCgov)
Projected Exchange QHPs: 5.76M by 12/12/15 (4.34M via HC.Gov)
Projected #OE3 QHP Selections: 14.70M nationally (11.23M via HC.gov)
Projected #OE3 QHP Selections by State
The problem is that maybe 9 million signed up last year.
Where are last year’s enrollees with 3 weeks to go in until January 1, 2016? Christmas to New Years consumes one week of enrollment. Holiday shopping will consumer the other two weeks.
Why did the government reduce the expected enrollment to 5 million when enrollment was 9 million last year?
Does the Obama administration expect 4 million people to drop out of Obamacare because it is too expensive?
Why did the Obama administration’s information given to the CBO caused the CBO to predict an enrollment of 21 million enrollees for 2016?
The New York Times Daily Briefing suggests to the well- informed reader that 1 million new enrollees is a good number.
What happened to the old enrollees?
The 1 million new enrollees is being used as further evidence that Paul Krugman is correct when he declares that Obamacare is working.
In actual fact 1 million new enrollees out of the 3.6 million confirmed enrollees is a terrible number. It tells us that only 2.6 old enrollees renewed their coverage.
The New York Times bias is subtle but real.
The second part of the Daily Briefing is even more revealing of the New York Times bias.
At the same time, a little-noticed provision that Senator Marco Rubio slipped into a giant spending law is quietly undermining the health care law.
We do not know how much Obamacare is costing the taxpayers in direct costs. The average American is feeling the cost in higher deductibles and insurance premiums with less coverage.
No one is considering the direct costs of the hidden tax increases written into Obamacare. Obamacare’s hidden taxes increased everyone tax bill 10% both directly and indirectly.
It is not the Republicans’ fault that this is happening. President Obama’s administration has not told the American people what the direct cost to the government is with all the inefficiency that has been built into the system.
Some have estimated that the start up costs are over 1 trillion dollars.
President Obama has been spending money on Obamacare like a drunken sailor. Marco Rubio put a cap on that spending. President Obama signed the cap into law.
The spending cap has resulted in an underpayment of 88% of the reinsurance bill due to the healthcare insurance industry.
The reinsurance bailout program should have never happened. It was an anticipated bailout of the healthcare insurance industry’s loss due to participating in the defective provisions in Obamacare.
The New York Times’ Daily Briefing suggests that Senator Rubio is undermining Obamacare by trying to slow down spending and decrease losses.
At the same time, a little-noticed provision that Senator Marco Rubio slipped into a giant spending law is quietly undermining the health care law.
This is a typical Saul Alinsky tactic. The tactic of blaming the next guy is a tactic used daily by the Obama administration.
I feel sorry for the country, and my well-informed liberal, progressive and sophisticated friends who are being influenced by this misinformation.
The weird thing is they believe their opinion is absolutely correct. I say they should start reading the New York Times carefully to see the subtle way the Obama administration feeds and molds our opinions and hides the truth.
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.
All Rights Reserved © 2006 – 2015 “Repairing The Healthcare System” Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
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Stanley Feld M.D, FACP,MACE
The mainstream media is biased. It usually supports the Obama administration blindly. Many intelligent liberals believe everything in the New York Times and what Paul Krugman says as if both were source material.
The New York Times and the TV networks ignored the initial press release by United Healthcare potentially withdrawing from the 38 federal health insurance exchanges in 2017. Fox news was the only cable network that covered the story.
The potential withdrawal is a very big deal. It is an indication that Obamacare is failing. Paul Krugman continually declares Obamacare is a success.
In order to induce United Healthcare’s participation in Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges the Obama administration guaranteed the healthcare insurance industry stop loss protection.
Then the Obama administration only paid 12.6% of the $2.8 billion dollars due the healthcare insurance industry under the stop loss agreement.
“The immediate cause of the selloff was UnitedHealth Group ’s shock $425 million downgrade to its earnings forecast for 2015, almost entirely driven by losses on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. “
United Healthcare did not sign up to sell insurance in the federal health insurance exchanges originally because it was afraid it would suffer large losses. It signed up only after President Obama activated the stop loss provision embedded in the reinsurance program of Obamacare legislation.
The United Healthcare announcement comes only a few weeks after 12 of 23 smaller, nonprofit insurance cooperatives failed and stopped selling insurance to Obamacare subscribers. These co-ops received billions of dollars in federal loans that will never be paid back to the nations taxpayers.
These cooperatives were given federal loans by the Obama administration in order to be competitive with the big insurance companies.
The federal health insurance exchanges attracted people with pre-existing illness. President Obama’s legacy law guarantees people with pre-existing illness availability to healthcare insurance at the same price as people without pre-existing illness.
People with pre-existing illnesses cost more than people without existing illness.
The resultant premiums are high and the deductibles are higher. Consumers who qualify for subsidies do not receive subsidies for the $6000 deductibles.
These young consumers did not earn enough money to afford the high premiums and higher deductibles. The poor cannot afford the deductibles either. No one at low risk is signing up for Obamacare.
In order to keep Obamacare going the Obama administration needs the healthcare insurance industry. The healthcare insurance industry performs all the administrative services for the government.
United Healthcare is not interested in selling insurance on the health insurance exchanges because the government has not been trustworthy and has not paid them what was promised.
The stop loss insurance should not have been promised to the healthcare insurance industry in the first place. However, President Obama jumped in and essentially gave the healthcare insurance industry the ability to sell insurance at no risk.
United healthcare did not sign up for 2013 but jumped into the Health Insurance Exchanges in 2015 because of the government’s stop loss guarantee.
Obamacare now owes the healthcare insurance industry 2.5 billion dollars. The budget contained an amendment that does not permit the government to reimburse more than it collected in premiums. Both houses of congress and President Obama signed the amendment into law.
At present President Obama has pledged to pay out the risk corridors payments despite the massive shortfall in the near term.
All President Obama has to do is ignore the law he signed in order pay the $2.5 billion dollars illegally. If he pays United Healthcare the money due it might continue to participate in Obamacare’s federal healthcare insurance exchanges.
United Healthcare is in business to maximize profits and not to lose money on good deeds.
Obamacare’s business model is a terrible model destined to lose trillions of taxpayers’ dollars. United is not interested in losing billions of dollars doing the government a favor.
Paul Krugman continues to tell his readers Obamacare is working wonderfully despite fact that it is failing. Major media networks have hardly described the problem.
It will be worse if we go to a single party payer system. Socialism has never worked.
It should be all about consumer driven healthcare and market forces driving healthcare with consumers being responsible for their health and healthcare dollars.
Government only function should be to create simple regulations that none of the stakeholders should abuse. The government must execute the enforcement of these simple regulations.
My ideal medical savings account will work. It will permit universal healthcare coverage and eliminate the development of the massive, inefficient and dysfunctional healthcare system called Obamacare.
Obamacare is unsustainable. It is being proven every day even if it is ignored by the traditional media, President Obama and his administration and Paul Krugman.
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.
All Rights Reserved © 2006 – 2015 “Repairing The Healthcare System” Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE