I grant that we need some sort of health care reform.
With doctors, hospitals and insurance companies all in bed together, medical costs are hundreds of thousands of dollars higher than they should be.
This is evidenced by the fact that the United States’ health care costs are two to three times higher than most other countries.
Mandates, exemptions, and socialized medicines are not the way.
Obamacare, excuse me, Affordable Care Act (ACA), is a poison to our limping, half-dead economy.
My first point is: If I don’t want to purchase something, I am not going to. I am not interested in the government encroaching on my rights and liberties when it comes to how I use my money.
I already pay the Federal and state governments taxes; they already control about 10 to 20 percent of my income! Why would anyone want the government to have more say on how we use our hard-earned money?
The mandate for businesses is plain ridiculous.
In 2015, businesses with 50 or more employees must provide healthcare for full-time employees, or the company will face steep penalties.
This is just one more hurdle companies must get around to make money. And whom will be cut first? Employees.
Trader Joe’s, a health food store, has already announced it will cut benefits for part-time employees.
Although Trader Joe’s is cutting employees a check to help them get started on the ACA, many other businesses will not be as generous.
Some will find the fees to the Federal government cheaper than providing insurance.
Businesses are going to do the best to spend the same amount on labor and insurance as in the past, so profit margins are not cut.
Businesses are not going to be altruistic and spend more money on employees just for healthcare.
While this isn’t pleasant to hear, it is the truth. Hours are going to be cut to 29 or below, people will be laid off, and insurance will be dropped.
Enough about rights, liberties and free trade, lets discuss how complicated this is.
For the sake of this argument, I tried to sign up, and it took me 45 minutes just to get to the welcome page.
You would think the government would have beta-tested the page before they let it go live on Oct. 1.
When the page loaded, it asked for more personal information than I was willing to give out, simply to see options. It seems the government is trying to collect information rather than help people find coverage.
I also grant that this bill is going to help some people. A family member of mine is one of them.
The person has a pre-existing condition, and health insurance is sky-high — somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 per month for just three people. The ACA is going to greatly reduce those costs.
However, I don’t believe the help it provides for this family member outweighs the social costs of this bill.
The crippled economy we will have after this bill takes effect is going to affect the entire country, and probably make this family member worse off in the long run.
I detest this bill. And while there need to be changes, the changes must be with insurance companies and hospitals first, — the ones inflating the prices.
Laws must be passed gradually so the economy can adjust to them. That is the only way this can work.