Games On!

Stanley Feld
M.D.,FACP,MACE

Articles
about the virtues of Obamacare are appearing almost daily. It is pretty clear that
the information is being fed to the media by the Obama administration.

The
problem is the sound bites are not truthful. The best sound bites are in the
Obama administration has to offer are in play. All the virtues expressed about
Obamacare are expensive and un-executable by the Obama administration.

On June 16^th
Timothy Egan was called on to spin the Obamacare tale in the New York Times.

He lauded
the virtues of Obamacare while executing the blame game once again. He starts
by describing an under 26 year old with Hodgkin’s lymphoma who was treated to
remission using his parents’ employer provided healthcare insurance.

The parents’
employer’s healthcare insurance premiums increased the past few years since it
is the law under Obamacare to cover children until they are 26 years old. The
coverage pre Obamacare covered only up to 18 years old.

Here is
the blame game.

“But he’s (the under 26 year old) still a pariah in the eyes
of the insurance industry, which means they can deny him a policy that might
save his life.

Not for long. In six months’ time, the heartless practice of
refusing to let sick people buy affordable health insurance — private-sector
death panels, the most odious kind of American exceptionalism — will be illegal
from shore to shore.”

Timothy Eagan’s example is true. However,
Obamacare’s most disturbing
feature is the Independent Payment Advisory Board. The IPAB, sometimes called a
"death panel," threatens to nullify Mr. Eagan’s euphoria for
Obamacare.

Maybe this person will not get approved for retreatment if
the determination for retreatment is not cost effective according to the IPAB

A vivid example of government’s control over an individual’s
personal life and death decisions is the rules that bared access by 10-year old
Sarah Murnaghan to the adult lung-transplant list.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius refused
to waive rules made by bureaucrats to permit this 10 year old a lung
transplant. 

Who knows what can happen when the power to make rules and
enforce them is in the hands of a bureaucracy? Bureaucracies have a tendency to
create rules in which no one has to take responsibility for decisions that affect
others’ lives and personal freedoms.

It is obvious that the grip of the bureaucracy will clamp
down much harder once the Independent Payment Advisory Board gets going in the
next two years. There will be no going back.

The Obamacare’s IPAB is not answerable to any one.

Cost will be an issue in the bureaucratic IPAB’s decision-making process
and not the patient’s vested interests.

Timothy Eagan goes on to say,

“The early indications are that most Americans will be
pleasantly surprised. Millions of people, shopping and comparing prices on the
exchanges set up by the states, are likely to get far better coverage for the
same — or less — money than they pay now.

There is no data for this statement except the
misinformation and number fudging done by California Covered. The costs in
California will be outrageous.

The state of Washington also published disinformation
about the cost of care under their health insurance exchange.

 The law, as honest
conservatives predicted, before they orphaned their own idea, is injecting
competition into a market dominated by a few big names.

Washington only has one insurance company signed up.

The real number prediction for Washington's health insurance exchange is that even in over-regulated
Washington State, Obamacare will increase individual health insurance premiums
by 34-80%

What will happen if, in the end, Obamacare really works?”

The early indications from the State of California and Paul
Krugman are misleading and dead wrong. I have pointed out that in an earlier
article. Obamacare is going to be a train wreck both financially and medical
care wise.

In additional, the Obama administration has to build 34 of
its own health insurance exchanges. It couldn’t suck 34 states into the Obamacare
overspending mud hole.

Auditors at the Government Accountability Office released
the results of two investigations. It optimistically concluded that it
"cannot yet be determined" if Obamacare will be ready for enrollment
a mere four months from now.

The health insurance exchanges are supposed to open October
1. The administration insists that it will.

The GAO's
detailed portrait of blown deadlines, regulatory improvisation and general
chaos explains why HHS has been anti-transparent.  

HHS will run 34
federal versions in whole or part as Governors continue their Obamacare
resistance.

Some of the health insurance exchange preparations have
barely begun. The Obama administration has already blamed it on conservatives
and Republicans.

The GAO attempted to track "key activities"
necessary to set up exchanges and identified "more than 100." But the
auditors can't give a precise number because "the nature of the activities
that [HHS] and the states will conduct has not been finalized and may continue
to evolve."

Mr. Eagan then criticizes
Republicans.

“They
have good reason to fear it: if Obamacare works, the game will be over for
those who oppose the most significant change in American life in a generation’s
time.”

The chance that Obamacare
will work is minimal. In either case it will be the most significant change in
American life in a generation’s time.

Ben Carson M.D.  has a very
practical comment about the health insurance exchanges.

Obamacare will be a disastrous
change and the Democrats will try to blame its failure on Republicans. It has
nothing to do with Republicans. It is simply a law that is destined to be a
train wreck.

Obamacare cannot be executed
and America cannot afford the cost of Obamacare.

Young people will not buy
individual insurance from the health insurance exchanges.

The young individuals who
do not receive healthcare coverage from their employer are not stupid. It makes little financial
sense for them to subsidize the medical care of others given the choice.

The traditional media is
getting nervous as they see President Obama using them to promote Obamacare and
convince young healthy people to join with a campaign of disinformation.

The media have lately
emphasized the real challenge of enticing healthy young adults to sign up for
Obamacare. Obamacare needs these young people to sign up and buy the insurance.

The states that have signed
on to the health insurance exchanges and the federal government are counting on
young people who are healthy to make Obamacare work.

Obamacare will not work even if they sign up. President Obama will
have to impose more and more taxes as hiddden taxes and means tested taxes as
there are more and more shortfalls.

This has been the destiny of all entitlement states and countries. These
higher taxes will have a devastating effect on the economy and economic growth.

The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone

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The problem is that as the Obama administration and
its media surrogates tell lies they start believing these lies until the devastation
hits.

Devastation of the healthcare system, the economy and
the financial structure is closer than they think.