Posted on 06/14/2013 12:58:49 PM PDT by MichCapCon
Thirty-three states including Michigan have refused to create Obamacare exchanges, and as many as half the states may also refuse the law's Medicaid expansion.
Yet Republicans who control the Michigan Legislature appear close to caving to special interest pressure and accepting the Medicaid expansion. Some in the majority hope that cloaking their capitulation behind heavily diluted reforms and deeply implausible conditions will distract base GOP voters who have little tolerance for collaborating with Obamacare implementation.
Leaving aside the politics, this is short-sighted. Even with the more rigorous conditions originally included in the introduced-version of House Bill 4714 (including a 48 month cap on benefits), the Medicaid expansion is bad policy because it props up an unpopular, hideously-flawed health care law that is vulnerable on many fronts.
Lawmakers (and citizens) who oppose the expansion are not "bitter enders" refusing to accept the reality of a harmful law that's a "done deal." In fact it's anything but a done deal.
When Obamacare fully kicks in on Jan. 1, the mayhem it inflicts on families, employers and the nation's health care system may be so obnoxious that Congress — including the Democrat controlled Senate — will be forced to open the law for major amendments that reduce the damage.
Legislators who collaborate with Obamacare implementation today by approving the Medicaid expansion reduce the chances of this opportunity coming to pass.
Here are just some of the ways Obamacare is vulnerable, with evidence for each:
Legal Oklahoma sues over illegal federal exchange subsidies – Cato Institute Small business lawsuit challenges illegal subsidies – Competitive Enterprise Institut Birth control lawsuits – Health Care Lawsuits blog
Political Poll Finds Support Slumping for Health Law – Wall Street Journal Kaiser’s polling indicates that only 37 percent of Americans like Obamacare – Weekly Standard Labor unions break ranks with White House on ObamaCare – The Hill Democrats “Nervous,” “Concerned” About “Complex,” Confusing, “Train Wreck” ObamaCare - U.S. House Speaker John Boehner
Administrative Complexity Is Obamacare Too Complicated to Succeed? – NYTimes.com Navigating the ObamaCare Maze – John Goodman Applying for ObamaCare—Still Not Simple - Grace-Marie Turner Obamacare architect Rockefeller: It's “beyond comprehension” – Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner
Extreme Technological Complexity Spending on exchanges more than double initial projections – Bloomberg “Let's just make sure it's not a Third World experience…” – Obama Administration Official States Overwhelmed by Obamacare Exchanges' Complex Rules, Bureaucracy - NewsMax
Perverseness The Law of Unintended Consequences, Obamacare Edition - National Review Some Unions Angry With Obamacare's Unintended Consequences – Huffington Post The IRS's Role in Implementing Obamacare – Heritage Foundation
Insurance Price Sticker shock Despite liberal spin, Obamacare will raise CA premiums - Avik Roy in Forbes ObamaCare’s raising insurance costs – Daniel Kessler in the Wall Street Journal The rate-shock danger – The Economist ObamaCare's Health-Insurance Sticker Shock – Wall Street Journal
Fiscal Unsustainability CBO: Obamacare costs double to $1.8 trillion in first decade – Washington Examiner Obamacare Budget Bombshell – Heritage Foundation Trust not in Obamacare Medicaid Cost-Share Promises – Mackinac Center Michigan Lawmakers Will Add $22 billion to National Debt with Expansion – Mackinac Center States Can Save Taxpayers $609 Billion by Refusing Medicaid Expansion – Goldwater Institute/Wall Street Journal
In the fevered intensity of Lansing caucus rooms, lawmakers are sometimes stampeded by a false sense of urgency. They need to pause and imagine how their current actions will be perceived next January, when daily headlines are exposing Obamacare's harmful impacts on real people.
This is to accommodate all the Detroiter's that loose their Pension / Medical Benefits post Orr's comments today and these Rino's are trying to cost shift for a few years, which will only bite them in the @$$ later...
Yeah that’s kinda how I look at it.
“including a 48 month cap on benefits”
Right. Just like unemployment benefits that are limited in time—that is until the Dhimms start yelling that it’s unfair to stop them “now”, and invertebrate Republicans, always scared of their shadows—who will cave in. The 48 month “cap” on benefits will be extended forever.
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