Posted on 02/21/2010 10:55:28 PM PST by American Dream 246
Every single day of this man's presidency is focused on destroying individual liberty and capitalism. There is no absolutely no authority for the federal government to control insurance premiums. This is right out of the Politburo's handbook.
President Obama will propose on Monday giving the federal government new power to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies, as he rolls out comprehensive legislation to revamp the nation?s health care system, White House officials said. Keep in mind that this is effectively seizing control of the health insurance industry. After all, if you control the rates, you control the companies' bottom lines. If you control their bottom lines, then they are no longer acting in a competitive free market.
Any plan to control premiums will reduce the number and variety of plans available to Americans. Some companies will refuse to write policies because they can't make a sufficient profit. This, of course (and by design), would allow the federal government to step in and fill the gap where the greedy, evil insurance companies 'bailed out' on their poor insureds.
Liberal states control premiums. Conservative states do not. That is the beauty of our Republic. You can escape from the death-grip of blue states for the freedom of the reds. Or, if you prefer, you can move to a blue state, lay around all day, and collect your government check. Hell, they'll probably throw in a binkie if you said you needed it to fall asleep at night.
Republicans must unequivocally reject this destructive plan. It is not a 'no.' It is a 'HELL NO.'
Obama's is not a bipartisan plan. The premise of many of Obama's plans is that he has the authority to do these things and that the GOP should meet him half way. When he has no authority, you tell him sorry Mr. President, you're gonna have to brush up on the Constitution and get back to us when you have a legal solution to the problem.
Then we can talk.
“Every single day of this man’s presidency is focused......
One single sentence to read & re-read! Get it in your head & get mad & get angry & tell somebody else!
Then the government would default, and “health” insurance companies would go away. Okay. ;-)
There is simply too much profit being taken out of the pool of money available for health care and too many factors driving up the costs.
That does not mean that replacing what we have now with government will work. Government is definately going to suck up heaps of money.
The problem with finding a solution is the present decision making process is so corrupt and the debate so clouded by partisenship that no good solution is possible.
What Boehner offered in his State of the Union rebuttal is only a tweak of the present system and not nearly enough to solve the problem:
Number one: let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines.
Number two: allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do.
Number three: give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs.
Number four: end junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs by increasing the number of tests and procedures that physicians sometimes order not because they think it's good medicine, but because they are afraid of being sued.
This might be an improvement for those with jobs that provide insurance or can otherwise afford it. But it does not solve the problem for millions of people in this country.
What Boehner spelled out is a plan but it falls far short of the mark. It is also packed with partisen buzz words that guarantee opposition.
The average gross income for a private GP in Oklahoma is not enough to cover just the professional insurance premiums in New Jersey.
Obama and the Democrats refuse to acknowledge this fact as it upsets their bosses, the state Bar Associations in this country.
Consumer medical insurance premiums can not be regulated at a Federal level unless doctor reimbursements are regulated at a federal level which can not be feasible without tort reform for the medical field in the highest cost of business states.
Yet the Democrats are running around every media outlet they have cocktails with and proclaiming any discussion of tort reform is verboten.
That’s what Obama’s PR army is fighting to suppress.
PROPAGANDA On The Internet.
Note: Videos included.
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Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/02/19/weekly-address-premiums-profits-and-need-health-reform
Home • Briefing Room • Your Weekly Address
The White House Blog
Weekly Address: Premiums, Profits, and the Need for Health Reform
Posted by Jesse Lee on February 20, 2010 at 06:00 AM EST
The President points to outrageous premium hikes from health insurance companies, especially those already making massive profits, as further proof of the need for reform. Looking ahead to the coming bipartisan meeting on reform, the President urges members of Congress to come to the table in good faith to address the issue.
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Note: The following text is a quote:
Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release February 20, 2010
Weekly Address: President Obama Says it is Time to Move Forward on Health Care Reform
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama used his weekly address to call on Democratic and Republican leaders to attend next week’s health care meeting in good faith to find reforms that work for American families and small businesses. With several health insurance companies announcing steep hikes in their rates – from 10 to over 30 percent – it is clear that the status quo, while good for the insurance industry, is bad for the American people. After a year of exhaustive debate, it is time to move forward on reform.
The full audio of the address is HERE. The video can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
February 20, 2010
The other week, men and women across California opened up their mailboxes to find a letter from Anthem Blue Cross. The news inside was jaw-dropping. Anthem was alerting almost a million of its customers that it would be raising premiums by an average of 25 percent, with about a quarter of folks likely to see their rates go up by anywhere from 35 to 39 percent.
Now, after their announcement stirred public outcry, Anthem agreed to delay their rate hike until May 1st while the situation is reviewed by the state of California. But it’s not just Californians who are being hit by rate hikes. In Kansas, one insurance company raised premiums by 10 to 20 percent only after asking to raise them by 20 to 30 percent. Last year, Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield raised rates by 22 percent after asking to raise them by up to 56 percent. And in Maine, Anthem is asking to raise rates for some folks by about 23 percent.
The bottom line is that the status quo is good for the insurance industry and bad for America. Over the past year, as families and small business owners have struggled to pay soaring health care costs, and as millions of Americans lost their coverage, the five largest insurers made record profits of over $12 billion.
And as bad as things are today, they’ll only get worse if we fail to act. We’ll see more and more Americans go without the coverage they need. We’ll see exploding premiums and out-of-pocket costs burn through more and more family budgets. We’ll see more and more small businesses scale back benefits, drop coverage, or close down because they can’t keep up with rising rates. And in time, we’ll see these skyrocketing health care costs become the single largest driver of our federal deficits.
That’s what the future is on track to look like. But it’s not what the future has to look like. The question, then, is whether we will do what it takes, all of us – Democrats and Republicans – to build a better future for ourselves, our children, and our country.
That’s why, next week, I am inviting members of both parties to take part in a bipartisan health care meeting, and I hope they come in a spirit of good faith. I don’t want to see this meeting turn into political theater, with each side simply reciting talking points and trying to score political points. Instead, I ask members of both parties to seek common ground in an effort to solve a problem that’s been with us for generations.
It’s in that spirit that I have sought out and supported Republican ideas on reform from the very beginning. Some Republicans want to allow Americans to purchase insurance from a company in another state to give people more choices and bring down costs. Some Republicans have also suggested giving small businesses the power to pool together and offer health care at lower prices, just as big companies and labor unions do. I think both of these are good ideas – so long as we pursue them in a way that protects benefits, protects patients, and protects the American people. I hope Democrats and Republicans can come together next week around these and other ideas.
To members of Congress, I would simply say this. We know the American people want us to reform our health insurance system. We know where the broad areas of agreement are. And we know where the sources of disagreement lie. After debating this issue exhaustively for a year, let’s move forward together. Next week is our chance to finally reform our health insurance system so it works for families and small businesses. It’s our chance to finally give Americans the peace of mind of knowing that they’ll be able to have affordable coverage when they need it most.
What’s being tested here is not just our ability to solve this one problem, but our ability to solve any problem. Right now, Americans are understandably despairing about whether partisanship and the undue influence of special interests in Washington will make it impossible for us to deal with the big challenges that face our country. They want to see us focus not on scoring points, but on solving problems; not on the next election but on the next generation. That is what we can do, and that is what we must do when we come together for this bipartisan health care meeting next week. Thank you, and have a great weekend.
There are a few supreme court cases, such as the 1876 case of Munn v. State of Illinois, 94 U.S. 113, where they ruled that a private business was in the nature of a monopoly. As the community had no choice but to use the service, the business had become akin to a “public franchise,” clothed with a “public interest” and subject to “public duties,” regulatable by the State.
The Court declared:
“Whenever any person pursues a public calling, and sustains such relations to the public that the people must of necessity deal with him, and are under a moral duress to submit to his terms if he is unrestrained by law, then, in order to prevent extortion and an abuse of his position, the price he may charge for his services may be regulated by law...”
There are also cases that establish that when such prices are regulated, the government must allow a reasonable profit.
PG&E Filed for Bankruptcy in 2001 after California forced the utility to keep rates low while energy cost skyrocketed. The stockholders and bondholders including state pension funds were screwed by the government. Expect Obama and his fellow Democrats to consume whatever sector of the economy they wish to nationalize. Viva Che! Viva Chavez! Viva Castro! Viva Socialism! Good Bye America!
Every single day of this man’s presidency is focused on destroying individual liberty and capitalism. There is no absolutely no authority for the federal government to control insurance premiums. This is right out of the Politburo’s handbook. How true.
Nixon also froze wages and prices. It didn’t work then and it wouldn’t work now.
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