We were promised choice with Obamacare, a group of plans that we can select from to meet our specific needs. The reality is that the government website offers exactly one plan, and from that one plan you can pick your deductible, co-pay, etc. But the essence of the "plans" are all the same. Rates only vary by how much you are willing to pay in co-pays and deductibles. From a medical side, the government is dictating to hospitals and doctors what is acceptable rates and charges, and those that don't go along are excluded from participation, and, in many cases, severely reducing choice. Doctors are choosing to retire early rather than have the government dictate to them what their services are worth. the reality: Less choice for consumers.
We were told that to be viable, to offer "affordable" rates, some 7 million people have to sign up by March 1st (now March 31st). Of those 7 million half or better need to be young people who are healthy, for they bring the cost of the entire pool down. If this doesn't happen, if we don't get the young people signed up, then the only recourse is to raise premiums on everyone in the pool. That is a fact, a given that the government is not touting, for it will result in exactly the opposite promised. The end result is less choice for more money.
There is another element that affects the viability also, and was revealed in a government report this past Tuesday. I'm flabbergasted that we haven't heard more about it from our media, as this impacts potential premiums so adversely... The report stated that, overall across the nation, about 3 million people had signed up for Obamacare so far, and that as of December 31st roughly half of those signed up have not paid their premiums to keep their policies in force. The report further broke down state by state the number of unpaid policies for each. So what is the reality of this news? Those people who didn't have insurance rushed out and signed up for insurance- and got it- but their reality set in,and for whatever reason, be it economic or what, they chose to not be able to afford it. So what does this mean? To be "viable" we needed about 4 million people to sign up in six weeks- or 133% more than have signed up since the rollout. Now, with this news, we need 5.5 million to sign up and stay on their plans in the next six weeks- or almost 4 times the number of people currently taking advantage of Obamacare- and the bulk need to be healthy young people, who have so far chosen to distain it...
The bottom line is that this plan cannot sustain itself. There is no way that it will do what it was promised to do. I suggest that we take those elements that are good about- and there are some- and draft a regulation for the insurance industry to include them. Allow kids in school to stay on their parents' plan until age 26. Make pre-existing conditions a non-factor in getting insurance. Remove limits to coverage. But put the onus on the private sector to solve it, for that is where it belongs. The government can help the insurance field standardize rates, so insurance can be sold by anyone to anyone- that creates competition, which in turn usually lowers rates, but government has no business trying to "socialize" healthcare. If there was ever a model of why government should stay out of the private sector Obamacare is it! Food for thought...
(PS. Obamacare was never really about affordable healthcare- it was about growing the size of government, making more people dependent on it, then ultimately stepping in when it fails so critically and dramatically and creating a welfare state out of our healthcare. But I won't climb that soapbox now!)
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