The Obama healthcare reality check

President Obama sounds a lot like a child abductor attempting to abduct a hapless kid by promising comic books and candy. His insistence that Americans who are happy with their current healthcare situation will not have to change it in any way sounds reassuring. But like everything else in today’s society, it’s necessary to read the small print.

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And there is currently in excess of a 1,000 pages of small print contained in H.R. 3200 (America’s Affordable Health Choices Act), better known as the “Kennedy Dodd Healthcare Bill”. I don’t imagine that the President has read all of the provisions within this bill, nor do I believe that even Ted Kennedy or Chris Dodd have read the entire bill, as it would take weeks to do so. But anyone interested enough to find out what Democrat lawmakers are contemplating can peruse the bill and hit a mother lode of information that directly contradicts everything the President is saying this bill will achieve. There is no way that H.R. 3200 (or its Senate counterpart) will reduce healthcare costs, as simple arithmetic will demonstrate. Let’s put it this way: If you add some 50 million individuals that the President claims currently do not have healthcare to the government healthcare rolls, how can the cost possibly drop? If the President and his barking Democrat seals were really interested in curtailing healthcare costs, they would engage in tort reform, which is probably the single biggest driver of increased healthcare costs in America. Malpractice insurance premiums for doctors run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year because of whopping jury awards. But since trial lawyers contribute heavily to the Democrats that will not happen under this administration. What’s more what would the provisions in H.R. 3200 do to the President’s promise that Americans can keep their current coverage if they are happy with it? H.R. 3200 clearly states that in order to keep one’s private healthcare plan there can be no changes imposed by the insurer after year 1 of the government’s plan coming into effect. There are always small changes that insurers impose on health coverage on a year-to-year basis. The House Bill would force Americans into the government program if insurers made any changes, such as rates or coverage, to an existing plan. More importantly, the bill mandates that within 5 years of the bill taking effect, private insurance plans must provide the same coverage as the government plan or the insured will be forced to change to the government plan. There are numerous such draconian provisions in the bill that will force Americans into the government insurance program, as these provisions will drive most private insurance companies out of business and those who chose not to be insured will face stiff penalties equal to the annual cost of the individual or family government health plan. The real purpose of the President’s healthcare reform drive is much more sinister and clues to its nefarious motivation have occasionally slipped from the President’s tongue. During a press conference he held on June 23 he said that with regard to healthcare in America there is no point in “throwing good money after bad habits.” I was surprised that none of the media caught on to the true meaning of this very significant statement, as, clearly, it indicates that the President is interested in controlling the habits of Americans. It’s true that Americans are guaranteed their basic freedoms under the Bill of Rights. Under the Obama healthcare regimen, you will have the right to freedom of speech, but you will not have the right to eat French fries. You will have the right to freedom of assembly, but you will not have the right to smoke. You will have the right to freedom of religion, but you will not have the right to drink alcohol. Your property will be protected under the Fifth Amendment, but the right to being a couch potato will be curtailed; all in the name of controlling healthcare costs. It’s been 20 years since Americans have had concerns that a foreign government might want to curtail their individual freedoms. As such we have not had to directly defend our freedoms in two decades and many Americans are taking them for granted. Instead, our own government is looking to curtail our freedoms and the healthcare bill the President is attempting to sell to Americans is the instrument with which to do so. Beware of the seductive promises made by politicians looking to “help” you. There’s always a price to pay.