The HSA Healthcare Blog

Finally. From a trusted source, here’s an in-depth look at why health insurance costs are about to soar under the very same legislation the President has promised will lower costs.

Healthcare just keeps going up

In this excellent article, Forbes discusses in detail why Obamacare will force premiums higher – not lower as promised.

Of course, some people will pay less, at least for awhile. That’s because their premiums will be subsidized. The source of those subsidy funds is at the heart of the debate in Washington over who is going to pay. Subsidies of course, are not funded by thin air – someone named Peter has to be robbed (taxed) to pay Paul (in the form of subsidies).

The people hit the hardest will be people who pay their own premiums and who are above 4x the poverty level, currently $88,000 for a family of four. Those people will be required to purchase coverage but will receive no subsidies. Their premiums likely will be 40% higher on average in 4 years than they are today – that’s when the meat of Obamacare would kick in, and it just gets worse from there.

All of this just has to make one wonder: What in the world is Pelosi and her pals smoking behind those closed doors?

Of course, there’s a bright side. Health savings account plans are looking more and more attractive, especially to people who pay their own premiums.

If you have not yet set up an HSA plan, consider getting in touch with my or one of my staff at your earliest possible convenience to get some quotes and start the ball rolling. We’ve been doing this over 30 years and we’ll be glad to help you avert the coming disaster from Obamacare.

Instead of wasting a day to go to the hospital, 77-year old Jens Dastrup hooks himself up from home to some electronic monitors which automatically feed his readings to his doctor, who then reviews the readings for any abnormalities and can even issue prescriptions electronically.

The catch? This ain’t happening in downtown Des Moines.

As an article in the NY Times describes (click picture for link), telemedicine is happening in Denmark, one of several European communities to embrace telemedicine as a viable low cost alternative to many traditional treatment options.

As you might expect, “experts” are studying whether this could work here.

Studying?

Does it ever seem to you that we Americans sometimes spend way too much time thinking about problems instead of solving them?

This technology works.

What’s the hold up?

You want health care reform that actually lowers costs? Here ya go.

Stop piddling around, Congress. Stop sticking your nose where it don’t belong.

Start doing something smart, for a change.

Like embracing telemedicine.

Obamacare keeps slipping.

As this new CBS News poll suggests (love Katie Curic by the way), an astonishing 36% of Americans now support Obamacare.

The fact of the matter is, as more details become public, support drops.

The only question remaining is whether Democrats will have the stomach to keep pushing this terribly unpopular legislation to the brink of destruction.

Time will tell.

We don’t have much of it left.

If it does pass, beware.

Your health insurance premiums will double within 6 to 12 months (if you pay your own way).

Don’t believe me? Just wait and see.

This is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated upon the American people.

What a disgrace.

CDR

Both House and Senate bills on so-called health care “reform” call for drastic cuts in Medicare spending.

“We’re going to have to reduce Medicare spending by about $400 billion over a 10-year period to get the math right,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on ABC television’s “This Week” on Nov. 29. “We haven’t reduced Medicare spending by 40 cents, so that’s not going to happen.”

One has to wonder – do these people have any blinking idea what they are doing?

As this article from Bloomberg reiterates, neither the Senate nor the House version is doing a cotton pickin’ thing to address the core problem – containing health care costs. For some insane reason (who knows what?), Congress is focusing exclusively on trying to get insurance coverage for everyone while wholly failing to address the escalating cost within the system.

I would suggest contacting your Congressman, but I’ve done that myself and it got nowhere. Congressman Harry Mitchell (Scottsdale/Tempe, AZ) is an absolute puppet for Nancy Pelosi.

Over-utilization is the concept that too much of something is being used, or utilized. As it applies to health care, over-utilization is another one of (way too) many behind-the-scenes reasons why health care costs are so out of control.

A big reason for this is that current benefits rich plans do little if anything to discourage usage. Low co-pays encourage people to go more often even when over the counter stuff would work as well. Fee for service in Medicare encourages extra visits so the docs can pay for their fine Lexus automobiles. And the list goes on.

Here’s an article from townhall.com that provides more details if you’re interested.

Think mandating health insurance coverage at the national level is the functional equivalent of states mandating that drivers carry auto insurance?

Obama does.

He’s wrong.

Again.

As Judson Berger of Fox News points out, there are many differences between mandated health insurance and auto insurance. Here are a few highlights:

Auto insurance is avoidable – health insurance is not.

Car insurance is mandated to protect others – health insurance is not.

Health insurance would be subsidized – by your tax dollars – car insurance is not.

The ultimate irony? Remember candidate Obama? HE was adamantly opposed to mandating health care coverage. That was candidate Clinton’s position if you recall. But in his recent joint address to Congress, Obama eagerly enveloped the concept – never mind potential constitutional hurdles to mandating health insurance coverage for all citizens.

As Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa) points out, the health care proposal introduced by Sen. Baucus includes a big — make that humongous — tax increase on working class folks who happen to be union members or others that are privy to benefit rich health plans- folks like coal miners in Rockefeller’s state.

By early estimates, an average West Virginia coal miner might suddenly see his paycheck shrink dramatically in 2013 and beyond. That’s because of a proposed 35% excise tax on benefit rich plans.

Of course, if Baucus strips out the excise tax, he loses about $200 billion in additional funding – money needed to support health care plan purchases by people who cannot otherwise afford coverage.

What a mess these idiots are creating.

According to yahoo news, it now appears as though Sen. Baucus may unveil a draft of health care legislation without the support of Republicans, thereby dimming any chance of producing a truly bipartisan bill. See story here.

Moreover, Democrats are also lining up in opposition with outspoken W. Virginia Senator Rockefeller stating he cannot support the bill (apparently because it does not give the federal government enough hands-on control). Side bar comment: Whatever happened to West Virginia?

At a meeting yesterday (9/15/09) in Denver, Don Hamm, CEO of Assurant Health, and a leading member of AHIP’s individual medical team, pegged the odds of no bill being passed this year at about 30%.

I’m beginning to believe it’s more like 60% – there simply are too many competing factions. And now, you have the Democrats who can’t even agree with each other.

Another side bar comment: Are they are *really* Democrats?

The longer this goes on, the more unbelievable it becomes.

Senator Enzi, R-Wyo., is one of 3 Republicans working side by side with 3 Democratic senators attempting to reach concensus on healthcare reform.

Recently, he took to the youtube airwaves to issue a commentary that in my opinion, accurately represents the state of affairs in Washington with respect to this particular contentious issue.

Here is a link to the story

Rarely do I make endorsements on this blog but now, I wholeheartedly endorse this youtube video statement made by Senator Enzi. In it, Senator Enzi accurately describes the need for reform countered by efforts being pushed by Democrats that go way too far.

Take a moment to watch the video. What do you think?

People may tend not to believe what I say about health insurance because, well, perhaps I am biased.

So here’s what the Wall Street Journal has to say about the (alleged) mess with health insurance – and by the way, I agree with every word in this article, which is why I am sharing it with you.

First, it’s important to understand that 90%, fully 9 out of 10 working Americans, are covered under a health plan where they work. Most people are pretty happy with their plans too — they should be, given the enormous subsidies employers are forced to pay (which makes GROUP coverage seem “cheap” to those covered).

The horror stories Obama is using to scare the rest of us have nothing to do with GROUP insurance – those stories have to do with INDIVIDUAL coverage, often after someone leaves the cozy mother-nest of group coverage.

So that leaves us with only about 10% of the marketplace that has a real problem of any kind (other than cost). Give or take, that’s about 15 million people, which includes the self-employed and those who have to otherwise fend for themselves.

Several ideas Obama is proposing have already PROVEN TO BE DISASTROUS in several states; namely, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Why in the world would anyone want to take ideas proven to be bad and implement them nationally?

Fundamentally, it has to be because of a gross misunderstanding of the scope of the real problem. There is no other explanation.

In fact, however, changes proposed will actually serve to further increase, not decrease costs, both in higher premiums AND higher taxes.

Will they system then be “fixed?”

Of course not – many people will be forced to simply opt out and “pay the fine.” Then what?

The cycle will get even more vicious – that’s what!

Here’s to hoping that more informative articles such as this one from WSJ will help people understand that the scope of the fix should be narrowed to more closely fit the scope of the problem.