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UPDATE:
Will you be punished if you refuse to enroll in Hillary’s new socialist health plan?
Many of you will remember when Hillary was asked by black journalists about the negative effects of her socialized health plan on the black community … she responded by saying:
“I have never advocated socialized medicine. That has been a right-wing attack on me for 15 years.”
Yesterday, Hillary rolled out her new “American Health Choices Plan.” Well, it turns out that her ‘non-socialized’ health plan is very much … socialized.
To refresh everyone on what socialized and socialized medicine means, I have included the following definitions:
Socialized Medicine:
Socialized medicine can refer to any system of medical care controlled and financed by the government.
Socialize:
1. To place under government or group ownership or control.
2. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable.
3. To convert or adapt to the needs of society.
There, now we are all up to speed on what we are actually talking about here.
On Hillary’s own website, you can read the summary of the plan in her own words.
Before we get started I’d like to point out that the idea you can increase the number of people insured, and increase the benefits while reducing the cost is absurd at best. Especially when you are talking about a minimum of 47 million new people.
This Plan covers every American – finally addressing the needs of the 47 million uninsured and the tens of millions of workers with coverage who fear they could be one pink slip away from losing their health coverage – with no overall increase in health spending or taxes. For those with health insurance, the plan builds on the current system to give businesses and their employees greater choice of health plans – including keeping the one they have – while lowering cost and improving quality. Specifically, the American Health Choices Plan will:
The language makes it sound good, but again you can’t increase the number of the insured, and provide more benefits for less cost. This is grade school math people.
The Same Choice of Health Plan Options that Members of Congress Receive:
Americans can keep their existing coverage or access the same menu of quality private insurance options that their Members of Congress receive through a new Health Choices Menu, established without any new bureaucracy as part of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP). In addition to the broad array of private options that Americans can choose from, they will be offered the choice of a public plan option similar to Medicare.
A Guarantee of Quality Coverage:
The new array of choices offered in the Menu will provide benefits at least as good as the typical plan offered to Members of Congress, which includes mental health parity and usually dental coverage.
Notice that they will have a ‘public plan’ to choose from. That’s socialized medicine.
Americans who are satisfied with the coverage they have today can keep it, while benefiting from lower premiums and higher quality.
Again … not possible.
Reducing Costs:
By removing hidden taxes, stressing prevention and a focus on efficiency and modernization, the plan will improve quality and lower costs.
Strengthening Security:
The plan ensures that job loss or family illnesses will never lead to a loss of coverage or exorbitant costs.
End to Unfair Health Insurance Discrimination:
By creating a level-playing field of insurance rules across states and markets, the plan ensures that no American is denied coverage, refused renewal, unfairly priced out of the market, or forced to pay excessive insurance company premiums.
This is the part that people will roll with their emotions on. Certainly, no one wants to be denied insurance, and I’d support that provision by itself. However, to not allow an insurance company to set their premium based on the health of the insured is blatant socialism. Many small companies will go under because of this provision. I don’t believe people should not be able to get insurance, but I also believe that a company has the right to charge an appropriate premium based on the financial risk of the insured.
Relying on consumers or the government alone to fix the system has unintended consequences, like scaled-back coverage or limited choices. This plan ensures that all who benefit from the system share in the responsibility to fix its shortcomings.
This is damn risky! This allows the consumer influence over how a company operates. A company in a free market economy has the right to operate as it sees fit. Sometimes it works … sometimes not. That’s what the market is for. You do not let the customer tell the company how to do business.
Insurance and Drug Companies:
insurance companies will end discrimination based on pre-existing conditions or expectations of illness and ensure high value for every premium dollar; while drug companies will offer fair prices and accurate information.
Individuals:
will be required to get and keep insurance in a system where insurance is affordable and accessible.
Providers:
will work collaboratively with patients and businesses to deliver high-quality, affordable care.
Employers:
will help financing the system; large employers will be expected to provide health insurance or contribute to the cost of coverage: small businesses will receive a tax credit to continue or begin to offer coverage.
Government:
will ensure that health insurance is always affordable and never a crushing burden on any family and will implement reforms to improve quality and lower cost.
It doesn’t get more socialize than to REQUIRE that all people get health insurance. What if I don’t want health insurance? Maybe I have a medical savings account, or maybe I have enough money to pay cash for any medical issue that arises. Oh wait … I get it now. I am going to be required to pay into the system so that my money will help cover the cost of those that are unhealthy who now get a discount on their premiums. I’M BEING TAXED!
Go to Hillary’s site to read the last provisions of the plan.
At the very least, most Americans will now pay more money for their health care than they were before so we can provide lower cost insurance to people who have health problems. The plan is categorically unfair to those Americans that don’t want health insurance for whatever reason.
To top it all off … a very prudent question was asked about the plan that ‘requires’ all people to enroll. Will it cover illegals, or just American citizens?
Now Hillary has been working on this plan for over a decade now. You’d think she would have thought about this all important issue. Especially since illegals are such a massive burden on our medical industry. In fact, this could be the most important aspect of the plan’s success or failure. So what was her response?
Senior [Clinton] policy adviser Laurie Rubiner–-while acknowledging that undocumented immigrants are a “huge issue” in this country–-said, “That’s one we’re going to have to think through a little bit.”
“We have not dealt with every single detail with this plan,” Rubiner continued.
They haven’t even bothered to address the issue yet?
There is a couple of things to look at here. One of those being that illegals cost the medical industry about $35 billion a year. Which raises health care costs and premiums.
- If illegals are not required to enroll … will they still receive the same medical care as everyone else?
- If so, won’t premiums and costs continue to increase as the financial burden grows … as it does now?
- If they are required to enroll … will we then deport them as they come forward?
- If not, how can we confirm their income, and will their employers be punished?
If illegals are not required to enroll, but still receive the same benefits as Americans do you will see a backlash of which the likes have never been seen before.
I’m also wondering if abortion will be covered, but I think we all know the answer to that question.
Needs of the Many 