There’s One Born Every Minute

And if you still believe in ObamaCare, you’re the one.

My last list of things we’ve learned about this bill since it was passed was incomplete.

What do we know now?

We know that premiums are going up everywhere.

Epstein said Blue Shield raised rates again Jan. 1 to pay for changes under the national healthcare overhaul and a new state law that bars insurers from charging women more than men. (Some policyholders will pay less under the state gender law, while others will pay more.)

Well, except for where services are being cut.

[T]he first effects are still being felt, the latest being the Food and Drug Administration's revoking of regulatory approval of Avastin to treat late-stage breast cancer.

[…]

An agency overseeing the cost-conscious, government-run health care systems in the European Union says Avastin does provide sufficient benefit at little risk to the patient.

The annual cost, however, is a staggering $88,000 annually, and under ObamaCare cost trumps medical care. A prime decision is whether extending your life is worth the cost.

And where companies are given waivers to the cost increases.

If the US passes a law that then requires the government to issue over two hundred waivers in the first few months to avoid disastrous consequences for enforcement, doesn’t that indicate a problem in the law itself?  That question should be foremost on voters’ minds as the number of waivers to ObamaCare issued by the Obama administration soars to 222:

The Obama Administration has quietly granted even more waivers to the new federal health reform law, doubling the number in just the last three weeks to a new total of 222.

[…]

This is basically a finger-in-the-dyke approach to oncoming disaster.  Any such waivers means that the government is no longer enforcing the rule of law but the rule of whim, choosing winners and losers in a totally inappropriate manner.  Issuing 222 waivers (for now!) demonstrates that the law is unworkable and needs to be repealed.

And let’s not forget the cost/benefit ratio on coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions. Congress allocated $5 billion for this, expecting 375,000 people to sign up in their first year. But, apparently $5 billion isn’t enough. Because of too high demand, you might think. No, if you think that, you are again, one of the suckers.

The failure of ObamaCare’s Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan has been known for weeks, at least to readers of the Wall Street Journal and Hot Air.   The Washington Post catches up to the WSJ a mere 45 days later with this report from Amy Goldstein on the failure of PECIP to attract the 375,000 people the White House and Congress claimed needed the help of subsidies to get health-care coverage.  Even with the program falling 97% short of its stated goal, it’s still going to cost more than Congress allocated anyway:

In the meantime, in at least a few states, claims for medical care covered by the “high-risk pools” are proving very costly, and it is an open question whether the $5 billion allotted by Congress to start up the plans will be sufficient. …

P.T. Barnum would be happy to have the CBO on his side too. I assume you saw that the CBO said this week that repealing ObamaCare would raise the deficit. The truth is out there, but it isn’t at the CBO.

The accounting gimmicks are legion, but we'll pick out a few: It uses 10 years of taxes to fund six years of subsidies. Social Security and Medicare revenues are double-counted to the tune of $398 billion. A new program funding long-term care frontloads taxes but backloads spending, gradually going broke by design. The law pretends that Congress will spend less on Medicare than it really will, in particular through an automatic 25% cut to physician payments that Democrats have already voted not to allow for this year.

But the simple fact is that it increases federal spending over the next ten years over $500 billion dollars. The way it cuts the deficit is by adding taxes and cutting other programs. But when push comes to shove, these taxes won’t be going up, and these programs won’t be cut. You can bet the farm on that.

As I keep mentioning, we have a spending problem in America. We don’t need another $500 billion program (and it will be worse the next ten years, probably triple that). Especially one that drives up healthcare costs while decreasing medical advances.

I’m going to say this again, as plainly as possible. This law is going to destroy America if we don’t repeal it. And soon.

And don’t think that the Democrats don’t know who the suckers are.

In reality, the Healthcare law is a liberal power grab that is gradually permitting the federal government to control more of our lives, making more people dependent upon the government and continuing the culture of dependency among minority groups who, up until now, have mostly voted liberals into power.

It’s all about power. It’s not about health care. It never has been. If it was really about health care, this bill would have never become law.

And if you don’t agree with me, P.T. Barnum wants to see you.