Big Lie #1

November 10, 11:37 PMInvestments ExaminerNancy Tengler

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Investments Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Michael Shaara, author of The Killer Angels, writes of America: "This was the first place on earth where man mattered more than the state."

Someone needs to remind Ms. Pelosi of this fact. Also a gentle reminder, perhaps, that this is still the Land of the Free. She can keep her 1990 page, $1 Trillion plus power grab disguised as health care reform.

And would someone tell her to stop wagging her finger at us? Please?

Let's start with the first Big Lie. During his health care reform address to the Joint Session on September 8th, President Obama promised: "Let me be clear -- it would only be an option for those who don't have insurance," he said. "No one would be forced to choose it, and it would not impact those of you who already have insurance. In fact, based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, we believe that less than 5 percent of Americans would sign up ."

Let's ignore for a moment the obvious question--why spend $1 trillion to cover 5% of Americans. Let's focus instead on the veracity of his promise. In other words, did he deliver?

Section 202 (pages 91-92) of H.R. 3962, passed late Saturday night on the President's urging, argues otherwise. According to an article by Betsy McCaughey in Saturday's Wall Street Journal, Section 202 requires each of us to enroll in a "qualified plan." If your health care coverage is supplied through your employer, the employer will have a "grace period" (last read it was five years) to switch to a "qualified plan," which is a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there is no grace period. As soon as there is the slightest change in your plan, a co-pay increase, deductible change, benefit adjustments...you MUST enroll in plan's deemed by the GOVERNMENT to be "qualified."

Section 224 (page 118) states that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the HHS Secretary will determine what a "qualified plan" covers. Also how much we will be REQUIRED by law to pay for it. Mandatory purchase of government designed health care with no ability to control what we pay for the service. Hardly sounds as Obama promised that "No one would be forced to choose it and it would not impact those of you who already have insurance."

We do have an estimate of the cost though. The CBO's November 2nd calculations (which if history is any guide will be a GROSS understatement) for a family earning $102,100 a year, will result in a premium of approximately $15,000. Out of pocket costs are estimated at $5,300. Total cost? $20,300. 20% of pre-tax income. Yikes. Must be something special, right?

Well not exactly. Section 303 (pages 167-168) describes the new plan as a "one size fits all" plan. For 20% of annual family income (which most likely means 30-40%)...a "one size fits all plan?" No, thank you.

So what happened to the country you and I lived in on Friday? The one where the man mattered more than the state? Huh Nancy? Huh President Obama. Hello? Anyone listening?








http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/09/obama.speech/index.html