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President Obama today admitted that while he as actively pushing for immediate passage of the socialized health care bill put forth by congressional Democrats, he is “not familiar” with all aspects of the bill. This from the man who is going to stand before the American people during primetime on Wednesday and argue in favor of passing this government power grab.
The Foundry reports:
With the public’s trust in his handling of health care tanking (50%-44% of Americans disapprove), the White House has launched a new phase of its strategy designed to pass Obamacare: all Obama, all the time. As part of that effort, Obama hosted a conference call with leftist bloggers urging them to pressure Congress to pass his health plan as soon as possible.
During the call, a blogger from Maine said he kept running into an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance. He asked: “Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?” President Obama replied: “You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about.”
This is a truly disturbing admission by the President, especially considering that later in the call, Obama promises yet again: “If you have health insurance, and you like it, and you have a doctor that you like, then you can keep it. Period.” How can Obama keep making this promise if he is not familiar with the health legislation that is being written in Congress? Details matter.
He’s not familiar with the provision which would eventually force everyone onto a public plan? Is he incompetent or just a huckster selling America a bill of goods he himself hasn’t even read?
The Foundry elaborates on this issue:
We are familiar with the passage IBD sites, and as we wrote last week, the House bill does not outright outlaw private individual health insurance, but it does effectively regulate it out of existence. The House bill does allow private insurance to be sold, but only “Exchange-participating health benefits plans.” In order to qualify as an ?Exchange-participating health benefits plan,? all health insurance plans must conform to a slew of new regulations, including community rating and guaranteed issue. These will all send the cost of private individual health insurance skyrocketing. Furthermore, all these new regulations would not apply just to individual insurance plans, but to all insurance plans. So the House bill will also drive up the cost of your existing employer coverage as well. Until, of course, it becomes so expensive that your company makes the perfectly economical decision to dump you into the government plan.
President Obama may not care to study how many people will lose their current health insurance if his plan becomes law, but like most Americans, we do. That is why we partnered with the Lewin Group to study how many Americans would be forced into the government “option” under the House health plan. Here is what we found:
* Approximately 103 million people would be covered under the new public plan and, as a consequence, about 83.4 million people would lose their private insurance. This would represent a 48.4 percent reduction in the number of people with private coverage.
* About 88.1 million workers would see their current private, employer-sponsored health plan go away and would be shifted to the public plan.
* Yearly premiums for the typical American with private coverage could go up by as much as $460 per privately-insured person, as a result of increased cost-shifting stemming from a public plan modeled on Medicare.It is truly frightening that the President of the United States is pressuring Congress in an all-out media blitz to pass legislation that he flatly admits he has not read and is not familiar with. President Obama owes it to the American people to stop making promises about what his health plan will or will not do until he has read it, and can properly defend it in public, to his own supporters.
I find this to be the height of arrogance on the part of President Obama. He is advocating a systematic overhaul and remaking of the American health care industry and he isn’t familiar with the legislation he’s pushing forward.
America, whether you support President Obama or not, doesn’t this make you question the validity of his claims and the motives for his arguments? If he is not familiar with all the provisions of the bill, why is he pushing it so hard on us?
RealClearPolitics has the audio, you can listen here.
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Perhaps when Obama said, ““You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about.”
Perhaps this statement means that he is not familiar with such details because they do not exist. Perhaps it was taken out of context in an attempt to make it seems like he is not familiar with the contents of the bill. He did not say he is not familiar with the bills contents, he state he was not familiar with a provision that states it will outlaw private insurance.
It looks to me like this section is not outlawing private health insurance. it is stating that Private health insurance plans can not enroll anyone into the current plan after the effective date of the bill. This means that after the effective date of the bill, new requirements will be placed upon private insurance which in turns creates a plan different from those that were in place before the effective date of the bill. This means that private insurance has to enroll people in their newly remodeled versions of their plans and not those models that were effective before the effective date of the health care reform bill.
I can see how the language can be taken as “Private insurance can not take on people for their health care coverage.” But for those who can read, and understand the English language, it is a lie to say that private insurance will be outlawed. When one does this, they are doing the same thing that they accuse Obama of doing, which is lying and using rhetoric to gain popularity of their ideas.
Here is section 102
SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT
2 COVERAGE.
3 (a) GRANDFATHERED HEALTH INSURANCE COV
4 ERAGE DEFINED.—Subject to the succeeding provisions of
5 this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable cov
6 erage under this division, the term ‘‘grandfathered health
7 insurance coverage’’ means individual health insurance
8 coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the
9 first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:
10 (1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT.—
11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
12 this paragraph, the individual health insurance
13 issuer offering such coverage does not enroll
14 any individual in such coverage if the first ef
15 fective date of coverage is on or after the first
16 day of Y1.
17 (B) DEPENDENT COVERAGE PER
18 MITTED.—Subparagraph (A) shall not affect
19 the subsequent enrollment of a dependent of an
20 individual who is covered as of such first day.
21 (2) LIMITATION ON CHANGES IN TERMS OR
22 CONDITIONS.—Subject to paragraph (3) and except
23 as required by law, the issuer does not change any
24 of its terms or conditions, including benefits and
25 cost-sharing, from those in effect as of the day be
26 fore the first day of Y1.
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17
1 (3) RESTRICTIONS ON PREMIUM INCREASES.—
2 The issuer cannot vary the percentage increase in
3 the premium for a risk group of enrollees in specific
4 grandfathered health insurance coverage without
5 changing the premium for all enrollees in the same
6 risk group at the same rate, as specified by the
7 Commissioner.
8 (b) GRACE PERIOD FOR CURRENT EMPLOYMENT9
BASED HEALTH PLANS.—
10 (1) GRACE PERIOD.—
11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner
12 shall establish a grace period whereby, for plan
13 years beginning after the end of the 5-year pe14
riod beginning with Y1, an employment-based
15 health plan in operation as of the day before
16 the first day of Y1 must meet the same require17
ments as apply to a qualified health benefits
18 plan under section 101, including the essential
19 benefit package requirement under section 121.
20 (B) EXCEPTION FOR LIMITED BENEFITS
21 PLANS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to
22 an employment-based health plan in which the
23 coverage consists only of one or more of the fol24
lowing:
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18
1 (i) Any coverage described in section
2 3001(a)(1)(B)(ii)(IV) of division B of the
3 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
4 of 2009 (PL 111–5).
5 (ii) Excepted benefits (as defined in
6 section 733(c) of the Employee Retirement
7 Income Security Act of 1974), including
8 coverage under a specified disease or ill9
ness policy described in paragraph (3)(A)
10 of such section.
11 (iii) Such other limited benefits as the
12 Commissioner may specify.
13 In no case shall an employment-based health
14 plan in which the coverage consists only of one
15 or more of the coverage or benefits described in
16 clauses (i) through (iii) be treated as acceptable
17 coverage under this division
18 (2) TRANSITIONAL TREATMENT AS ACCEPT
19 ABLE COVERAGE.—During the grace period specified
20 in paragraph (1)(A), an employment-based health
21 plan that is described in such paragraph shall be
22 treated as acceptable coverage under this division.
23 (c) LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE
24 COVERAGE.—
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19
1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Individual health insurance
2 coverage that is not grandfathered health insurance
3 coverage under subsection (a) may only be offered
4 on or after the first day of Y1 as an Exchange-par
5 ticipating health benefits plan.
6 (2) SEPARATE, EXCEPTED COVERAGE PER7
MITTED.—Excepted benefits (as defined in section
8 2791(c) of the Public Health Service Act) are not
9 included within the definition of health insurance
10 coverage. Nothing in paragraph (1) shall prevent the
11 offering, other than through the Health Insurance
12 Exchange, of excepted benefits so long as it is of13
fered and priced separately from health insurance
14 coverage.
I’d be interested in reading a detailed report on how the new health care bill would raise the cost of health care and subsequently the cost of private insurance. This interest is not to say that I do not believe that it would, but I would like to know the exact details of “cause and effect” in regards to specifics.
Kendale,
If I may.
You need to read the IBD article which states the following:
Obama either:
A) Refuses to acknowledge the provision because he would like to pass it quietly and without anyone realizing it.
or
B) He truly is not familiar with the bill he’s telling congress to pass immediately so he can sign.
So do not tell me I am doing the following as you state:
“When one does this, they are doing the same thing that they accuse Obama of doing, which is lying and using rhetoric to gain popularity of their ideas.”
I deal in the facts of it all, I am not interesting lying rhetoric. I am not going to gloss over the details and play it off. This bill would be a means to the end private insurance and individual choice in health care. It would also kill Health Savings Accounts, another option which has been working for a lot of people.
Furthermore, here is the story on the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office director warning that this bill will raise costs, not lower them:
http://www.foxnews.com/po.....es-health/
It is so funny to watch you respond to these stories with the facts staring right at you but you want to find different explanations or give Obama the benefit of the doubt.
Sometimes you need to call it what it is, not make excuses for it. This health bill is a joke, an embarrassment to the foundation of this country. It will bankrupt us further, it will make Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid look “efficient” in comparison.
It is the worst possible thing, along with cap-and-trade, and we could be undertaking or forcing on the American people.
I used my health Savings Account to get tooth implants and pay for medines co-pays, etc.. Thus paying with pre-tax earnings. By getting rid of this plan, employees must pay taxes on this.
In effect, raising taxes on those making less than $250,000 without admitting to it… I call that a dirty trick on the part of a liar.
Obama is the worst President we have ever had.
“Universal coverage? First, look at the disaster in Massachusetts”
Examiner Editorial
-
January 11, 2009
“Just a year after the universal coverage law passed, The New York Times reported, state insurers were already jacking up rates to twice the national average. According to Dr. Paul Hsieh, a physician and founding member of Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine, 43 mandatory benefits — including those that many people did not want or need, such as invitro fertilization — raised the costs of coverage for Massachusetts residents by as much as 56 percent, depending upon an individual’s income status. So much for “affordable” health care.”
http://www.washingtonexam.....11109.html
It being Sunday, here is a little video levity. Beought to you By Biden…
http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/
wow… this site is down to just 3 people posting and responding.
An email I got, I haven’t gone through and checked the validity of this tings yet.
Shock: Inside the Healthcare Bill
Economic Policy Journal ^ | 7/20/09
Following the mad recommendations of Peter Singer made in NYTime’s Sunday magazine, it pays to take a look at what is actually in the healthcare bill.
It’s worse than you can possibly imagine. Somehow, it manages to be Singer on steroids. Who wrote this bill. It has Singer’s footprints all over it.
Peter Fleckstein (aka Fleckman) is reading it and has been posting on Twitter his findings. This is from his postings (Note: All comments are Fleckman’s)
Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Gov’t will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!
Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill – THERE WILL BE A GOV’T COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get
Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill – YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!
Pg 42 of HC Bill – The Health Choices Commissioner will choose Your HC Benefits for you. You have no choice!
PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill – HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise
Pg 58HC Bill – Gov’t will have real-time access to individual finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued!
Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Gov’t will have direct access to your bank acctounts for electronic funds transfer
PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).
Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Gov’t is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under Gov’t control.
PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill – Gov’t mandates ALL benefit pkgs for private HC plans in the Exchange
PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill – Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Gov’t will ration your Healthcare!
PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill – Gov’t mandates linguistic approp svcs. Example – Translation for illegal aliens
Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Gov’t will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals. for Gov’t HC plan
PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill – Specs of Benefit Levels for Plans. #AARP members – Your Health care WILL be rationed
-PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill – Medicaid Eligible Individual will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice
pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOV’T on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Gov’t Monopoly.
pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill – Doctors/ #AMA – The Gov’t will tell YOU what you can make.
Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public option plan. NO CHOICE
Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.
Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Employer with payroll 400k & above who does not provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll
pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesn’t provide public option pays 2-6% tax on all payroll
Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesn’t have acceptable HC according to Gov’t will be taxed 2.5% of income
Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from indiv. taxes. (Americans will pay)
Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOV’T) will have access 2 ALL Americans financial/personal records
PG 203 Line 14-15 HC – “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax” Yes, it says that
Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Gov’t will reduce physician svcs for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected
Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill – Doctors, doesnt matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same
PG 253 Line 10-18 Gov’t sets value of Dr’s time, professional judgement, etc. Literally value of humans.
PG 265 Sec 1131 Gov’t mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries
PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed Gov’t regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs
PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS – Cancer patients – welcome to rationing!
Page 280 Sec 1151 The Gov’t will penalize hospitals for what Gov’t deems preventable readmissions.
Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmiss-Gov’t will penalize you.
Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Gov’t tells Drs. what/how much they can own.
Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Gov’t is mandating hospitals cannot expand
pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have oppt to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!
Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 – Gov’t mandates estab. of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing
Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Gov’t has authority 2 disqual Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing peeps in2 Govt plan
Pg 354 Sec 1177 – Gov’t will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs persons! ???. My sister has down syndrome!!
Pg 379 Sec 1191 Gov’t creates more bureaucracy – Telehealth Advisory Cmtte. Can you say HC by phone?
PG 425 Lines 4-12 Gov’t mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life
Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!
PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Gov’t provides apprv’d list of end of life resources, guiding you in death
PG 427 Lines 15-24 Gov’t mandates program for orders for end of life. The Gov’t has a say in how your life ends
Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An “adv. care planning consult” will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates
PG 429 Lines 10-12 “adv. care consultation” may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV
Pg 429 Lines 13-25 – The Gov’t will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.
PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Gov’t will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life
Pg 469 – Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello, ACORN Medical Svcs here!!?
Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment to a community-based org. Like ACORN?
PG 489 Sec 1308 The Gov’t will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Gov’t into your marriage
Pg 494-498 Gov’t will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those svcs
Here’s the full Health Care bill that sits in the House.
http://frwebgate.access.g.....3200ih.pdf