ObamaCare Coming to Town : Prepare for A Shock

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), ObamaCare, is just what we all thought it was, a 3000 page nightmare that is unworkable, and will ensure that millions will be denied health care, not just insurance for health care.

The problems with ObamaCare are so great and far reaching it's hard to decide just which aspect of the bill is the worst. Is it mobility, pre-existing conditions as this article points out, cost in real terms, quality and or availability for new seniors? How many doctors will opt out or retire to avoid the increased regulations?

In reality, the entire bill is designed to corrupt the private insurance industry and force everyone into the eventual 'single payer' disaster just a Mr Obama has stated he wants.

Bottom line in the debate is we will lose quality health care and for many no health care at all. Unelected bureaucrats deciding whether people live of die, death panels, the regulations that even the supreme court found ludicrous, can only foretell the health care nightmare that is in store for us all. 

Debating Health Reform: The Pre-Existing Condition Problem
Source: Avik Roy, "Debating Health Reform: The Preexisting Condition Problem," Manhattan Institute, October 2012.

November 9, 2012
The central point in the argument for health care reform revolves around whether individuals can be denied coverage for preexisting conditions. Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) approach guarantees coverage in the short term, it poses long term risks to the U.S. health care system, says Avik Roy, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

•According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), only 3.5 percent of the 55 million uninsured were uninsured because they were denied coverage due to preexisting conditions.
•However, 71 percent of people blamed their lack of insurance on high costs.
•The CBO estimated that 700,000 people would enroll in the ACA's high-risk pool for people with preexisting conditions.
•But as of July 31, only 82,000 people had signed up.

There are two root causes to the problem of preexisting conditions. First, the tax code ties employment to health insurance, meaning that people have gaps in coverage when they lose their jobs. If a person loses a job and has a preexisting condition, the individual is forced to endure high premiums.

Second, health insurance is too costly for individuals to purchase. This is primarily because insurance companies cater to large companies and have no incentive to build economically viable risk pools for those that want to purchase health insurance individually.

Rather than tackling the root causes, the ACA exacerbates the problems with health care in America. Instead, it raises premiums and forces people to buy insurance. For those that can't afford it, the government will subsidize insurance which will be paid for with cuts to Medicare and higher taxes.