Tag Archives: healthcare reform

IRS Wolves Called Off – But Who Pays Now?

On April 15, President Obama signed legislation that rescinds the burdensome 1099 requirement that was inserted into the healthcare reform legislation to help fund Obamacare.

The idea was simple enough. Increase reporting of independent contractor work that is reported via 1099’s.

The Democrats figured this would get them a few extra $Billions in tax revenue.

Americans thought otherwise. The 1099 requirement was seen as an intrusive gesture into an already burdensome tax world. (The new requirement would basically mandate reporting of all expenses over $600 even to vendors who were not “employed” by a company.)

Americans won this round, and thus, the first demantling of Obamacare.

Whether further, meaningful demantling occurs will depend entirely upon the 2012 elections. Without stout majorities in both the House and Senate, effective legislation will not pass, regardless of the Party in the White House.

In the meantime, health plan premiums continue to rise with no abatement in sight. This is due in large part to Obamacare mandates, most noticeably the mandatory coverage of children (as dependents) under age 19 regardless of health conditions. Although this is a good thing for parents with children who have pre-existing conditions, unfortunately, the Democrats failed to offset this requirement by mandating that all children under 19 be covered under a health plan, regardless of health. Thus, the only ones left to subsidize the unhealthy children – are all the rest of us.

The sooner we face up to the fact that this is no longer “insurance,” the sooner we’ll be on the path to real discussion – whether or not we really want a socialistic healthcare system here.

As I’ve said countless times before, when the Democrats had the opportunity to shove something down our throats, they should have shoved an effective “single-payer” system instead of this monstrosity cleverly disguised as insurance coverage.

They had one shot to shove. They blew it. Now we’re going to be paying for it for decades and decades.

CDR

Obamacare – set to take us right down the toilet?

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:

  • Obama is not being truthful when he claims a $1.3 trillion reduction in the deficit.  Surely he must know that money “saved” from Medicare cuts will be spent elsewhere.  Only in Washington is a dollar spent considered a dollar saved.
  • The Gov’t plans to limit to ONE the number of tests your doctor will be allowed to run in most instances.  Why? On paper, this saves money.  In the real world, this leads to misdiagnosis and a reduction in the quality of care. Didn’t they say they were going to “improve” health care?
  • Forcing doctors to run less tests inevitably will lead to more, not less malpractice claims.  NOTHING is in this monstrosity of legislation to curb runaway malpractice insurance costs for doctors.
  • Obama promises you can keep your doctor, but what if your doctor is forced into selling used cars or something else?  More and more cuts in Medicare mean less, not more income.  They’ll want your doctor to see more and more, not less patients.  It all adds up to a recipe for disaster.  And who in their right mind amongst the talented will want to go into medical school now?   Look for a surge in enrollment – in MBA and law programs.
  • This national “plan” has already been tested – in Massachusetts, where it turned into a debacle.  Guess which state has the highest per capita health care? Yep.  Massachusetts.  Also the only state with mandated coverage.  See the correlation? According to an independent study by the Rand Corp., health care costs in Mass. are expected to double by 2020, increasing faster than 8% over the state’s GNP.  Brilliant.  Just brilliant.
  • Obama claims this legislation will increase jobs.  Caterpillar disagrees.  That company – one of the 30 Dow component companies – has already started laying people off in anticipation of escalating health care costs.  By its own estimates, the legislation will cost the company at least $100 million.  That ain’t chump change, not even for a Dow company.

    • 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?