Political Lies

Bill Neinast

neins1@aol.com


Political lies dominate the news today.  Some, like President Obama’s promises about the new medical insurance laws, are factual or provable as untrue. Others, like whether Chris Christie had prior knowledge about the highway lane closures in his state, are, because of the absence of facts, questionable.


There is, however, one factual lie that has been ignored by the news.  This is the lie that is the title of the law that is giving the President so much grief.  Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and her minions who wrote the bill that is commonly called ObamaCare lied about the purpose of the law from the beginning.


That lie is memorialized in the title of the bill.  Generally the law is referred to as either ObamaCare or the Affordable Care Act (the ACA).  The real title, however, is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  Ostensibly, the law was enacted to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance by lowering the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage.


In other words, the law was intended to have the same effect as the Texas Financial Responsibility Law.  This law requires people who drive in Texas to pay for the accidents they cause. Motorists who want to exercise the privilege of driving on Texas roads prove they will be responsible for their accidents by showing proof that they have adequate insurance before they can register a vehicle or have it undergo an annual safety inspection.


Put another way, the Texas Financial Responsibility Law is simply a requirement for all vehicle owners to buy insurance.  Similarly the PPACA, ACA, or ObamaCare, whatever you want to call it, is simply a requirement for every adult in the U.S. to be covered by medical insurance of some type.  


The law has nothing to do with making medical care affordable because that word is defined as something that is inexpensive or reasonably priced.  Obama and Pelosi, however, could never have gotten their pet project enacted if they had named it The Health Insurance Requirements Act.  


So they lied when they sold the legislation with an argument that the laws’ purpose was to make medical care more affordable.  Anyone who believes that giving more people access to medical care through either a free government program (MEDICAID) or cheap insurance will make such care cheaper or less expensive does not understand the American free enterprise system.


Demand and supply are two major factors in setting the price of goods and services.  Either an increase in demand or a shortage in supply will increase price.   For example, when increased driving in summer months raises the demand for gasoline or OPEC reduces the supply of oil, prices at the pump will increase.  Reverse either of those factors, and the price goes down.


Under ObamaCare, millions of Americans are being added to the free medical care rolls.  They will become either MEDICAID eligible or get care through medical insurance subsidized by the taxpayers.


Anytime something is free, there is a rush to the trough.  A prime example of that is the military.  


A number of Army surgeons discussed with me their disgust with the abuse of their services because it was available free to every active duty soldier and his or her dependents.  Medical care was sought for things like the common cold that would never see the inside of a doctor’s office if the service had to be paid for by the patient.


One Battalion Surgeon told me that he could cut his work load in half if he could install a lie detector at the clinic door.  He knew which units were scheduled for field exercises just by the number of soldiers from that unit waiting at his door every morning for an excuse not to go to the field.


When ObamaCare is fully implemented, there will be millions of Americans eligible for a type of free or almost free medical care that was not available to them previously.  Although they could get care for acute illnesses or accidents through emergency rooms or other clinics, they had no access to a doctor for the common sniffles.  Now they will.   As soon as the word gets out, medical professionals can expect the same lines of patients at their doors as the Battalion Surgeons.


The looming increase in the demand for medical care will have the same effect as an increase in demand for any service.  The cost of medical care will increase accordingly.


The increased costs will be borne by taxpayers and insurance companies.  The insurance companies are now required to cover all comers and have government imposed restrictions on both what they charge and the profit they can earn.   As the companies’ work loads increase and their profit margins decline, a substantial reduction in the number of insurance companies can be anticipated.


So here’s the perspective.


As medical insurance companies begin to fade and fold, those medical bills will still have to be paid.  Who, then, is going to pay those bills?


There is no surprise in the answer.  Obama and Pelosi are smilingly waiting to pick up the tabs with taxpayer money.  


That is what is done in other countries, like our northern neighbors in Canada.  There, however, the citizens are not fooled by false labels like Affordable Care.  They tolerate the long lines waiting for medical care and call it what it is, socialized medicine.


How long will it take for the media to start referring to ObamaCare by its true name?

enough



 
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