ObamaCare- A More Positive View

There sure is a lot of misinformation being put out by those who would like to things to remain just as they are. For one the doctors whose salaries are between $150,000 and $250,000 a year with hourly earnings between $50 to $150 an hour.

There's the big pharmaceutical industries. Then there are the medical insurance companies without 'Obamacare' who would get to cherry pick from those who have no employer based medical coverage.

Another enemy of 'ObamaCare' is congress who's members depend on campaign contributions from these groups. Congressional members who are under constant bombardment from the lobby groups funded by the billions of dollars invested by special interest groups determined to keep the status quo.

Perhaps the biggest reason of all are the Republicans who are determined to win back the White House at all cost. There is no larger nor determined group to see 'ObamaCare' fail then they. Even if they have to shutdown government then blame Obama for it. It's simply unimaginable for them to allow Obama's signature piece of legislation to stand. The logic being once 'ObamaCare' fully kicks in, many Americans will start seeing their yearly medical insurance premiums going down as much as $10,000 a year. That makes for a pretty tough argument for booting Democrats out of the oval office and congress.

Is it any wonder people are turned off after seeing unending deceptive advertisements costing millions of dollars each year in an attempt to derail 'ObamaCare'.

I won't pretend to know whether everything about the 'Affordable Care Act' is hunky dory. I'm sure there are more then a few parts that still need fine tuning. One thing I'm certain of, it's not as bad as we've been told by those benefiting greatly under the current way we are paying for medical coverage. Of that you can be sure!

Check out Tami Luhby's article at CNN Money-- New Yorkers to see 50% drop in health insurance costs in Obamacare exchange

According to this July 17th press release from Governor Cuomo...

"On average, the approved 2014 rates for even the highest tier of plans individual New York consumers could purchase on the exchange (gold and platinum) represent a 53 percent reduction compared to last year’s direct-pay individual rates. The fact that these average individual rates are effectively being cut more than in half is primarily because a greater number of uninsured individuals are expected to obtain coverage in the individual insurance market – lowering overall premiums. (Note: That 53 percent reduction does not include the impact of federal financial assistance for individuals meeting certain income thresholds who are purchasing coverage on the exchange, which would lower costs even further for many consumers.)

Furthermore, despite the fact that health care costs per capita are approximately 18 percent higher in New York than the national average, the average approved rates for the benchmark individual “silver plan” in New York would be in line with (nearly 10 percent lower) the nationwide average

The following companies had health insurance plan rates for the health benefits exchange approved today by DFS. The rates approved today are subject to final certification of the insurers’ participation in the exchange
•Aetna
•Affinity Health Plan, Inc.
•American Progressive Life & Health Insurance Company of New York
•Capital District Physicians Health Plan, Inc.
•Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York
•Empire BlueCross BlueShield
•Excellus
•Fidelis Care
•Freelancers Co-Op
•Healthfirst New York
•HealthNow New York, Inc.
•Independent Health
•MetroPlus Health Plan
•MVP Health Plan, Inc.
•North Shore LIJ
•Oscar Health Insurance Co.
•United Healthcare

Enrollment for the exchange begins on October 1, 2013 for coverage that will be effective January 1, 2014There are certainly a lot more companies to choose from then previously. If this sucked so bad, why are so many stepping forward?

For a breakdown of all the specific rates in New York for 2014 CLICK HERE

Well that's only New York you say. Well in Maryland they are reporting "A 21-year-old nonsmoker will be able to buy health insurance that costs as little as $93 a month on the Maryland Health Connection... The state joins California, New York and elsewhere in achieving monthly premiums below estimates by the Congressional Budget Office and others."

These were the main points I wanted to make. However for those who would prefer a longer read, here are some more goodies....


EXTRA READNew York Magazine- "Obamacare Still Not Collapsing", "The employer mandate that the Obama administration is delaying is not a central part of the law. You could repeal it without any functional changes to the guts of the law"

Forbes, "The Congressional Budget Office, in a 2012 report, argued that employers do not have a large incentive to dump workers’ coverage. And even if employers dropped coverage for an additional 20 million workers relative to the CBO’s projections, the deficit would not increase, says the CBO, because the subsidies paid to low-income workers would be offset by an increase in tax revenue from lower utilization of the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored insurance... If you like Obamacare, and you want it to work, you don’t need the employer mandate.

ObamaCare Facts.com- About The Employer Mandate

No all the investors in hospitals are against the new healthcare law. 'The Raw Story' reports Hospital investors ‘sold’ on Obamacare despite bumps. "They expect company earnings to strengthen as more Americans gain insurance coverage and hospitals lose less money treating the uninsured... The biggest benefit from health reform is expected to be an influx of patients whose treatment will be paid for either through expanded Medicaid programs or with private insurance obtained from state-based exchanges that will take effect on January 1. That should help drive down the percentage of revenue now being written off as bad debt for treating the uninsured, which can be up to 20 percent or greater for some hospital chains.


SOME FINAL WORDS
This legislation is extremely complex. Some of it is good. Some of it not so good. There is big money riding on this thing. There sure are bunch of loud mouths shouting too. At the end of the day both are trying to appeal to peoples' raw emotions and preconceived beliefs. When this happens, the facts are largely overshadowed and buried. One needs to dig and sort things out for themselves.

I'd be willing to bet 90% of my readers never got this far into reading my post. I've been told numerous times to keep it to one paragraph. For the vast majority of people reading anything more then 10 sentences would be like waterboarding. This holds true when I read my stats. Be that as it may, it can't be said I didn't take thrice the time it would take for even a lazy person to read.