Top Ten + 2 Facts About Obamacare

The Roll-Out...Has Been A Success?

Note well: there is great controversy no to mention a PR nightmare, but this entirely about the defective website. The argument about whether Obamacare is, on net, a good thing or bad thing, is totally missing.

The Numbers Not Available Till...Mid-November?

This is total nonsense. HHS is holding back the numbers, so they do not come out till after the elections. The numbers are available real time, as this is computers and not a dude cranking away on an adding machine. In fact, there is no reason HHS could put a counter right on the webpage proudly displaying how many have actually signed up. Another wrinkle is the difference between just opening an account and actually applying for insurance. See, there is no looky-loo provision like any other retail website, so you have to start an account to find out how much a policy will cost you. Why? Cuz HHS was afraid that visitors would get sticker shock, so they removed the preview function so you actually have to open an account to get your quoted price with subsidies and the like.

The Real Reason Obamacare Was Created

Medicaid.

That's right: the qualifications were loosened considerably as part of Obamacare so that more people than ever can get it (if the website ever gets fixed). All this subsidy stuff is just a prelim to moving everyone towards Medicaid and single-payer-healthcare.

Why Your Health Insurance Policy Is Being Canceled

According to an article in Forbes, all policies (including the cheapie Bronze ones) must include all of the following:

• Emergency services
• Hospitalization
• Laboratory services
• Maternity care
• Mental health services
• Occupational and physical therapy
• Prescription drugs
• Preventive and wellness services (such as vaccines and cancer screenings)
• Speech-language therapy
• Addiction treatment
• Ambulatory patient services
• Care for newborns and children
• Chronic disease treatment (such as diabetes and asthma)

At least half of these are not normally covered by insurance policies, even the expensive ones. If your current health insurance does not cover all of these, it is not allowed.

Why It Is A Threat To Your Privacy

Cuz the Obamacare database will connect to many other databases that have your personal data, which is unprecedented. Including: criminal records, employment data, family records, where you live, your voting history, driving records, taxes, gun registration, health records, INS records, all with your personal data. Obamacare will be the new central hub to gather all your private info. The stated reason is that the HHS website has to verify who you are to determine what subsidies you are eligible for.

A Simple Fix That Will Never Happen

All the Obamacare website needs is a simple, text webform. You fill in the blanks, and the website gives you the price of your insurance policy assuming you filled in the form correctly. You click a button that says “OK, I'll take it”. Then, on the back end, the servers verify your form, and you get an email in a few days with an offer from the insurance company. This will never happen, cuz then HHS cannot capture all your private data in realtime.

Health Insurance Broker/Agent

All this is so unnecessary. These folks know their stuff, and are licensed by the state. They know the policies forwards, backwards, sideways, upside down and inside out. Why are they being cut out? See the previous paragraph.

If You Like Your Doctor...You Are Probably Screwed

“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”

Not.

Depending on which survey you read, up to half of all physicians are either putting themselves out of reach of Medicaid, Medicare, and Obamacare, or outright retiring. You might have the same doctor under Obamacare, but this is sheer random luck.

Narrow Provider Networks

Before you celebrate the lower-cost or no-cost insurance policy, note carefully which hospitals, doctors, clinics, and pharmacies you can use. You might be surprised at how few resources you have access to.

The Roberts' Supreme Court...may have permanently killed single-payer healthcare

Another little-noticed development is that the Supremes deemed that individual states can opt-out of the provisions that dramatically expand Medicaid. Under Obamacare, if a state opts of the Medicaid increase, then the residents of that state are not eligible for premium subsidies either. I am sure that Larry Summers, the primary architect of Obamacare, never envisioned such a thing. All states will be under Obamacare and the Medicaid increases, a good first step to single-payer healthcare (where all people in medicine are federal employees and the President controls all premiums, coverage, and medical decisions). The fact that almost a third of the states have opted out means that this liberal dream will never come true.

Healthcare vs. Health Insurance

Is this about access to basic medical services, or about the price of the monthly insurance premiums? I submit to you that Obamacare is about the latter.

The Infamous 'Death Spiral'

This is something that should be explained if you do not already understand. Health insurance for us old fogeys and people who have preexisting medical problems are going down. How? All people, especially the young, are now required by law to have health insurance. They are going to put into the kitty, but because they are young and strong and virtually immortal, will never use medical care. Therefore, they subsidize insurance price reductions for everyone else.