Will you patiently wait for health care at the end of a 32,000,000 person line? Proponents of ObamaCare are betting you will. In 2006, Massachusetts passed a version of health care reform which, like ObamaCare, promised to reduce wait times, particularly in emergency rooms. However, a recent poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians has found that two-thirds of Massachusetts residents reported that wait times haven't decreased at all. In many cases, they've increased. The reason is simple: by expanding insurance coverage and ignoring physicians' needs, lawmakers increased demand but did nothing to encourage supply. ObamaCare makes the same mistake. In fact, ObamaCare's replica of the Massachusetts health care fiasco is so good that health care scholars now glumly predict "the new healthcare law will pack 32 million newly insured people into emergency rooms already crammed beyond capacity."
Meanwhile, your doctor is about to take a 21 percent pay cut. Will you fight for him? Advocates of ObamaCare are betting you won't. In order to hide the real costs of ObamaCare, Congress declined to include the so-called "doc-fix" in the recent health care legislation. However, that left doctors exposed to Medicare reimbursement rates at the 2001 level-despite the fact that the costs of senior care have increased 20 percent in the last decade. If Congress fails to act before June 1, physicians will have to bear a 21.3 percent drop in Medicare payments. Of course, this will hurt seniors even more than it hurts the doctors who care for them.
But have no fear: a check is in the mail! If you're over 65, you may have a bitter taste in your mouth from watching ObamaCare strip $500 billion from Medicare. To make amends, proponents of ObamaCare are now offering seniors a palate cleanser in the form of a $250 rebate. Seniors may use these dollars to offset the drop in prescription drug coverage known as the Medicare "doughnut hole." Of course, every little helps, but the reality is that a senior's out-of-pocket drug costs can exceed $3,000 annually. Compared to the theft of $500,000,000,000 from Medicare, a less-than-ten-percent rebate on prescription drug costs is hardly the way that America's senior citizens should be treated.
"You can keep your insurance if you like it." You may remember President Obama's most famous health care promise. It turns out the President's campaign pledge isn't worth the teleprompter it was uploaded to. The numbers speak for themselves. Because of ObamaCare:
- An estimated 19 million employees will lose their employer-based insurance coverage
- As many as 11.5 million Americans will lose Medicare Advantage
- 33 million Medicare beneficiaries will experience massive cuts in quality and access
- In addition to these incredible statistics, all indications suggest that in the coming months millions more will lose their employer-based insurance as companies discover how much they can save by booting employees into government-provide insurance pools
Our policy solutions are only possible with your support. Please consider donating to the National Center for Policy Analysis. You can donate online or mail a check to:
National Center for Policy Analysis
P.O. Box 650098
Dallas, Texas 75265-0098
Thanks for your continued support!
Warm regards,
Jeanette Nordstrom
National Center for Policy Analysis
www.ncpa.org
No comments:
Post a Comment