So answer me this. Obama touted his Socialized medicine plan as the fix this country needed to get everyone healthcare. But if it’s so great why in the world do a thousand businesses (and climbing) with hundreds of thousands of employees (and climbing) need to be exempted from this “masterpiece” of legislation?
HHS posted 126 new waivers on Friday, bringing the total to 1,040 organizations that have been granted a one-year exemption from a new coverage requirement included in the healthcare reform law enacted almost a year ago. Waivers have become a hot-button issue for Republicans, eager to expose any vulnerabilities in the reform law.
And as the administration hands out more waivers it is also acknowledging what we all knew long ago. ObamaCare cannot sustain itself and will create a HUGE burden on the taxpayers:
In debate on the health care bill in late 2009, Republicans and moderate Democrats repeatedly warned that sicker people were more likely than healthy ones to sign up for the long-term care plan. Enrollment is voluntary, but the law stipulates that premiums must be set high enough to guarantee the solvency of the program over 75 years. Higher premiums would discourage healthier people from participating, economists and actuaries say.
Administration officials, who played down such concerns 15 months ago, say they now share them. Under questioning by a Republican at a Senate hearing last week, Ms. Sebelius said the original version of the program, known as Community Living Assistance Services and Supports, or Class, was “totally unsustainable.”
She told the House Ways and Means Committee, “We very much share the concerns that have been expressed that, as written into law, the framework of the program was not sustainable.”
So, the CLASS act….which Obama used to sell the program as sustainable, really isn’t.
It was all one big gimmick used by Obama to make it appear that ObamaCare would actually reduce the deficit. The CLASS Act basically says they can start collecting premiums five years before benefits are provided. So when you look at the ten year budget, as the CBO did, it would show a surplus. Of course those last five years, when ObamaCare really gets rolling, will run HUGE deficits and as the administration now acknowledges…it isn’t sustainable.
To top it all off, and realizing the vulnerability in the law, Obama told the governors at the recent governor meeting that “if your state can create a plan that covers as many people as affordably and comprehensively as the Affordable Care Act does — without increasing the deficit — you can implement that plan.”
This is not the first time he has come forward with an open hand that in reality was not so open. In September of 2009, he said: “If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen.” In February of 2009, he said: “I won’t hesitate to embrace a good idea from my friends in the minority party.” As we know, Obama went forward with his approach, and Obamacare passed with no Republican votes and 34 Democratic votes against it in the House.
…The problem with this [new] offer, and Obama’s previous offers of flexibility, is the vagueness of the key words. He gets to decide what is “serious,” what is a “good idea.” In this case, he — specifically, skeptical senior officials at HHS — gets to decide in advance whether market-based reforms would “create a plan that covers as many people as affordably and comprehensively.”
Pass a law requiring everyone to buy healthcare, then give out thousands of waivers. Tell everyone the law will pay for itself to get it passed, once its passed let everyone in on the secret…it really won’t pay for itself. And finally tell the states “well, if you can do a better job…do it. but I get to decide if it really is better.”
Smoke and mirrors.
That’s all this administration is about.
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