I’ve certainly offered more than my fair share of Obamacare criticism. Since I’m a public finance economist, I’m mostly concerned that the law increases the fiscal burden of government.
But I’m also irked that Obamacare will worsen the third-party payer crisis, which it the main problem with our health care system in America.
And it should go without saying that I’m nauseated by the corruption that has been facilitated by the new regime.
All that being said, I’m almost at the point where I feel sorry for Obamacare supporters. There’s been a growing avalanche of bad news about government-run healthcare and they somehow have to justify this festering pile of you-know-what.
For instance, it must not be fun having to explain to people that their private financial and medical information will now be in the hands of some of the least competent people in America. Which means we’re sure to see more stories like this.
A MNsure employee accidentally sent an e-mail file to an Apple Valley insurance broker’s office on Thursday that contained Social Security numbers, names, business addresses and other identifying information on more than 2,400 insurance agents. An official at MNsure, the state’s new online health insurance exchange, acknowledged it had mishandled private data. A MNsure security manager called the broker, Jim Koester, and walked him and his assistant through a process of deleting the file from their computer hard drives. Koester said he willingly complied, but was unnerved. “The more I thought about it, the more troubled I was,” he said. “What if this had fallen into the wrong hands? It’s scary. If this is happening now, how can clients of MNsure be confident their data is safe?”
Or imagine what it must be like when some of your biggest allies start complaining about the law. Such as union bosses.
Top labor leaders left the White House on Friday after an hour-long meeting with President Barack Obama, still looking for a way to address concerns that “Obamacare” will hurt their members’ healthcare plans. The dispute with unions – traditional allies of Democrats – as the Obama administration begins to roll out Obama’s signature healthcare reforms is providing political ammunition for Republicans who want to defund or repeal the law. …Earlier this week, AFL-CIO members passed a resolution calling for significant changes to the healthcare law, stopping short of asking for its repeal, but exposing the rift between the labor movement and the Obama administration.
A new survey of 2,500 federal employees and retirees found that 92.3 percent believe federal workers should keep their current health insurance and not be forced into ObamaCare. Only 2.9 percent say they should become part of the new health insurance exchanges.
And what about stories about cost overruns.
According to data published by the Department of Health and Human Services, the cost of the computer cloud that stores cost, coverage, and performance data for insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act (also called the ACA or Obamacare) has more than tripled since the contract was originally awarded in 2011. Press reports indicate that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded a $10.8 million contract to Terremark – a subsidiary of Verizon – early in 2011. The contract called for the company to design a system to help consumers find an insurance plan and transfer it to CMS’ computer cloud, among other duties. This week CMS announced the contract is now for $35.5 million – more than triple the original amount.
And how about all the bad news about limited choice in the infamous Obamacare exchanges.
Only one company will participate in West Virginia’s new individual health insurance marketplace. Media outlets report that Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and Carelink/Coventry applied and were accepted to participate in the individual marketplace. But Carelink/Coventry has withdrawn. …The health insurance marketplace is part of the Affordable Care Act. Enrollment begins Oct. 1. Coverage will begin Jan. 1, 2014.
For the vast majority of Americans, premium prices will be higher in the individual exchange than what they’re currently paying for employer-sponsored benefits, according to a National Journal analysis of new coverage and cost data. Adding even more out-of-pocket expenses to consumers’ monthly insurance bills is a swell in deductibles under the Affordable Care Act. Health law proponents have excused the rate hikes by saying the prices in the exchange won’t apply to the millions receiving coverage from their employers. But that’s only if employers continue to offer that coverage–something that’s looking increasingly uncertain. Already, UPS, for example, cited Obamacare as its reason for nixing spousal coverage.
So let’s add all this up. Our privacy will be compromised, our choices will be limited, our costs will increase, and the government will squander more of our money. All for a law that even left-wing groups are learning to despise.
That’s why I almost feel sorry for the President and his media flunkies.
But notice I said “almost.” In reality, I feel zero empathy for those who undermine our freedom with statism.
Indeed, I want to add to their misery with some satire. So let’s close this post with a few new Obamacare cartoons, starting with this gem from Steven Breen.
Gary Varvel adds his insight.
And here’s a clever cartoon from Lisa Benson, though let’s hope and pray something saves us from single-payer.
Last but not least, Bob Gorrell shows the overall impact of this costly new entitlement on the economy.
I have plenty of additional Obamacare cartoons here, here, and here, all of which help mock a bad law.
But let’s remember a very serious point. As suggested by the Benson cartoon, the left sees Obamacare as a stepping stone to single-payer. And if you think Obamacare’s a mess, I invite you to peruse the horror stories about the U.K. system linked at the bottom of this post.
[…] Sure, some additional people have health insurance coverage, but is he blind to rising premiums, job losses, higher taxes, loss of plans and loss of doctors, dumping people into Medicaid, and […]
[…] enjoying Obamacare cartoons, videos, and jokes by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] of people are suffering adverse consequences. These are folks who did nothing wrong, but now are paying more, losing employment, suffering income losses, and/or being forced to find new plans and new […]
[…] https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2013/09/14/is-it-time-to-feel-sorry-for-the-president-and-other… […]
[…] How about when we were told costs would come down? […]
Obama: Light & Heavy !
(1) Obama’s favorite candy: Mecca Wafers!
(2) Barack-coli: a vegetable or a national plague!
(3) Obama Coffee: grounds for impeachment!
(4) Prov. 17:7 (NIV): “Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool – how much worse lying lips to a ruler!”
(5) When Obama says we’re on the cutting edge of history, he must be thinking about beheadings!
(6) New nursery un-rhyme: Obaba Black Sheep keeps pulling the wool over our eyes!
(7) The southwest is running out of water, but Obama is helping with his surplus of wet*****!
(8) Prov. 19:10 (NIV): “It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury – how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!”
(9) Obama is an expert on beheading. After lunch he tells his secretary: “I’ll be heading back to the golf course! (10) The border fence isn’t high enough to keep out un-American criminals. I repeat, the White House fence isn’t high enough to keep out un-American criminals – and now they’re inside the White House!
(11) Prov. 30:21, 22 (NIV): “the earth…cannot bear up [under] a servant who becomes king.”
(12) We’ve gone from America’s Declaration of “unalienable rights” to Obama’s Proclamation of ALIENable rights!
(13) The nicest words Obama could repeat while golfing: “I’m having a stroke, I’m having a stroke”!
(For more kicks Google “Michelle Obama’s Allah-day” and “The Background Obama Can’t Cover Up.”)
[…] asked back in September whether all the bad news about Obamacare meant it was time to feel sorry for President Obama and […]
[…] asked back in September whether all the bad news about Obamacare meant it was time to feel sorry for President Obama and […]
[…] asked back in September whether all the bad news about Obamacare meant it was time to feel sorry for President Obama and […]
[…] The President’s main “accomplishment” has been such a disaster that I wonder whether it’s time to feel sorry for Obama. […]
[…] The President’s main “accomplishment” has been such a disaster that I wonder whether it’s time to feel sorry for Obama. […]
[…] Heck, the humor assault on the President’s main “accomplishment” is so brutal that I sometimes – when sharing cartoons mocking Obamacare – can’t help but talk about a spirit of Schadenfreude and I also wonder whether it’s time to feel sorry for the President. […]
[…] minutes enjoying more Obamacare cartoons, videos, and jokes by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] can enjoy various cartoons, videos, and jokes by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here,here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, […]
[…] Heck, it’s almost gotten to the point where I feel sorry for the President. […]
[…] humor, you can enjoy various cartoons, videos, and jokes by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] Heck, it’s almost gotten to the point where I feel sorry for the President. […]
[…] If you want to enjoy some more Obamacare humor, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] If you want to enjoy some more Obamacare humor, click here, here, here,here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, […]
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Well, Scottie, perhaps it was a bit of wishful thinking. I was in Wales in 1968 and the health situation was close to tragic. The one doctor left in the village was so overworked he made many mistakes…one of which almost cost my son his life. I felt sorry for our family and I felt sorry for the poor doctor, who felt terrible. I assumed it got better after I left as i couldn’t see how it could get worse.
In response to amfreemkt61
I’ve no real axe to grind wrt Obamacare, just facinated by the arguments against it in the US.
However I must ask for some further explanation of how amfreemkt61 seems to think Margret Thatcher improved the UK’s healthcare system. The 80s were a terrible time to be ill in the UK. There were huge waiting lists and decrepit hospitals under-staffed by under-appreciated front line staff. This was a conscious decision by the Thatcher Govn who wanted to cut taxes to win elections.
The NHS only recently got back on track in the late 90’s when investment and spending improved the facilities and increased staff numbers.
[…] https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2013/09/14/is-it-time-to-feel-sorry-for-the-president-and-other… […]
As a person who purchases their health insurance in the individual insurance market place I do not feel sorry for the Affordable Care Act supporters. I am keenly concerned with what I call Health Care Reform for the Forgotten Man will look like. I was recently reminded in a post by Harold Pollack on the Incidental Economist blog than the supporters of the Affordable Care Act are in a pissing match with the insurance companies over people who are both uninsured and un-insurable. As a healthy person I did not ask to be involved in their idiotic debate but in their perverted political logic they decided that healthy people like me will have to pay extra. I thought we learned our lessons from the failed grand ideas of the 1930’s. So the plan is to declare war on the most price sensitive people in the health insurance market and hope that it turns out okay?
So where do we go from here? Once again Harold Pollack reminds us that there is no room for debate. Recently he dismissed a proposal for individualized health insurance plans as a non-starter. As a healthy person I think that an individualized health insurance plan is the next logical step for health care reform. In fact I will go one step further. My perfect health care plan is an individualized health care plan issued from my local hospital that includes my local doctor. The perfect plan for the business I work for is a defined contribution plan. If we combine both of these together we arrive at the conclusion health care is a local problem with a local solution. At it’s worst this should be a state problem. This local focus does make you wonder how a federal program became the preferred solution. My second choice is a plan similar to the one they offered when I first started working in 1976. Everyone signed up for the plan because it was inexpensive and inclusive. When the third party payer system is working right and large group plans are cheaper than individual plans, this type of solution is a no-brainer. Unfortunately we have strayed far from the path since 1976. Since the large group plans are more expensive than the individual rates it is easy conclude that the third party system is already dead and that businesses will enter into a defined contribution arrangement as quickly as possible. My third choice would be to keep my existing plan and rates. Every time a supporter for the Affordable Care Act says that there are no alternatives I grit my teeth. It is bad enough that my rates are rising rapidly but now my insurance company, Aetna, has announced that they are not going to participate in the state exchange. This combination of confusion and fear was not supposed to be happening to healthy people who had health insurance. If the plan by the Affordable Care Act supporters was to make everyone miserable, they have succeeded. So I am left with my fourth choice, the Affordable Care Act. The supreme irony of the Affordable Care Act is that it is littered with so many failed programs, delayed mandates, and confusing regulations that it is the poster child for smaller government. I doubt a libertarian could have deliberately screwed up the Affordable Care Act as well as its well intentioned supporters have. The best way to judge the Affordable Care Act reforms is to see whether the reforms can stand on their own or whether they require the IRS to enforce them. Most of us can still remember when we have perfectly good health care without IRS involvement. The supporters of the Affordable Care Act are now arguing that this is a good first step for health care reform. From what I have seen of the reforms so far that is akin to throwing a grenade into a crowded room and saying that is a good first step at getting people to exercise more. At some point we have to start realizing that the Affordable Care Act is not a creative destructive force of good but a plain old, well intentioned, destructive force. This is something that the unions and the general population agree on. We have seen the future of health care and it looks a lot like Detroit.
you’re citing yourself??
in many areas of the country… hours are being cut… and jobs eliminated… as a direct result of Obamacare… this thing is a pathetic mess…. the aca will cost democrats dearly in the next election cycle… and all of the establishment media happy talk in the world will not change the facts on the ground… if this legislation is allowed to stand…. no goat in America is safe…
charlotte
pour voir que tout n est pas uniforme et beaucoup d americains n aiment pas Mr Obama
Bisous Pierre
One of the scariest parts of Obamacare is the open door to fraud. As in any government-funded system, there will be massive amounts of fraud. I once had the data to prove 30% of Medicare/ Medicaid was fraud. For some reason, its almost not considered a crime when you are stealing from the government. (after all it IS our money). And the recipient of a service doesn’t pay much attention to the bill when somebody else is paying fo it.
My wife is handicapped. I have learned the ugly truth of Medicare- which she is required to have because of her condition. Up to now, we’ve had private company insurance to ill the gaps. And now, I worry that Obamacare is going to force my company into dropping medical coverage- which we dearly need. If we didn’t need healthcare, I could probably retire. Perhaps this is a jobs plan- the old guys are only hanging onto jobs because their companies give them healthcare. If that goes away, maybe they retire, and there are new job openings…do you think they could think that deep?
Oh, for the days again when we used to pay our doctors our of our pockets, and had insurance for disasters. I’m afraid our parent’s generation did us a great disservice when they first allowed government to exert control over healthcare. I guess this is where the term “slippery slope” is truly exemplified.
Sorry? Far from it. They managed to firmly set the path towards government run healthcare. After a few initial bumpy years, the deteriorating entitlement wi be firmly relied upon by an increasing number of voter-lemmings. So, in a few years it will be opponents who are ridiculed. Ridiculed, not necessarily as being wrong, but perhaps as honest delusional idealists.
Just like the original and current opponents of Social Security and Medicare are ridiculed today. A large majority views them as principled but delusional people with some good ideas, who will nonetheless never manage to repeal the two programs — at least until the point of implosion comes — which BTW is not far off and will likely come suddenly.
But back on ObamaCare, it is just the third major pillar of inefficient and effort-reward flattening redistribution, like Social Security and Medicare. Why does anyone think that ObamaCare will ultimately have a different politico-economic trajectory than SS and Medicare?
Lured into the Northern Collectivist Latitudes by the 9/11 events, American prosperity (and mentality) irreversibly hit the iceberg in 2008. Now secure a life boat first and foremost. Then eat the caviar, steal the wallets of the disoriented passengers and enjoy the music. But get in that lifeboat first. When the majority realizes that American exceptional ism and prosperity are irreversibly sinking, it will be too late. When the delusional majority realizes that, in practice, nobody wants to work for HopNChange — at least not with the exceptional enthusiasm needed to outcompete seven billion and maintain their exceptional American Middle Class prosperity — then it will be too late. Desperation will predictably drive voter-lemmings into even worse choices.
Folks, you are driving into the worldwide prosperity average. The Titanic keeps moving, but momentum will not last long.
The devil of coercively drafting the individual to serve the will of the “community” is always the same. But he needs to be invited by the voter- lemmings. So he just comes dressed in different clothes (golden, red, black, brown, green) so that the lemmings have hope: “Oh it won’t be as bad this time. This time it may actually work”. Same delusion repeats. It’s America’s turn to finally sink into this ubiquitous worldwide mediocrity now.
But it is not all gloomy. I’m convinced that human cultural evolution (and natural selection, unfortunately) will continue. So, some electorates will escape the vortex of coercive collectivism. The trick is finding out which are the budding stars — the future Google electorates vs the Fairchild Semiconductor HopNChange voter lemmings — and invest your vitality in them early. When I see a country that is more than a spec on the map get on the trajectory of Switzerland, Singapore or Hong Kong, then I’ll know time has come.
Until then, I’ll just grab a few more wallets on this sinking Titanic. Perhaps I’ll get into solar powered ObamaCare recruiting facilities.
Reblogged this on Public Secrets and commented:
After thinking long and hard about this for, oh, half a second or so, I’d say the answer to Dan’s question is “No. Nope. No way in Hell.”
I lived the nightmare of the U.K. system in the late 1960s before Margaret thatcher made it better (but still grotesque). Perhaps we will feel sorry enough for Obamacare to put it out of its misery. http://coldwarwarrior.com/