HSA Healthcare Blog

I love it when someone else says exactly what you’re thinking. That way, you can just quote that person and nobody is really mad at you.

In an article published on Fox News the day of the health care “reform” vote, Cal Thomas posits the implausible: That Obamacare will spell disaster for the country.

Highlights made by Mr. Thomas include the following:

It all kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Just how many of those Democrats actually read the legislation before voting on it? Or were they just taking the Speaker at her word?

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.