Erika Johnsen
HotAir
12/2/2012
I thought ObamaCare was going to be so awesomely efficient and innovative, and know how to accomplish things so much better than the free market, that all of the associated health care costs were going to go down, insurance was going to get more affordable, and none of this was going to have any adverse effects on the middle class, or something?
Via the NYT:
The Obama administration said Friday that it would charge insurance companies for the privilege of selling health insurance to millions of Americans in new online markets run by the federal government.
The cost of these “user fees” can be passed on to consumers. The proposed fees could add 3.5 percent to premiums for private health plans sold in insurance exchanges operated by the federal government.
In proposing the new rule, Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said that fees charged by the federal government would be “sufficient to cover the majority of costs related to the operation of federally facilitated exchanges.” She did not say how the remainder of the money would be raised. …
Fees charged for use of the federal exchange come on top of a separate annual fee to be imposed on health insurance companies to help offset the cost of expanding coverage under the new law. The annual fees, to be apportioned among insurers according to their shares of the nation’s health insurance market, are expected to total $6 billion in 2014 and more than $100 billion over 10 years.
The article continues at HotAir.com
Related: Well, This Is Just Fabulous.
…Several days ago, the Obama administration decided to release more Obamacare regulations which will further enhance the giant ball of suckage that it already is.
Here’s just a few examples:
Kathleen Sebelius said, “Insurers will not be able to charge someone more just because she is sick or because she used to be sick.” Obamacare disallows any surcharges or exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Which means that insurance companies will have to charge EVERYONE more to cover their expenses. Now, if you’re a healthy person, you can get coverage for a reasonable cost, but when insurance companies are forced to cover everyone no matter what ailments they may or may not have, it won’t matter that you’re healthy. You’ll have to pay for the same expensive plan that everyone else does, because it’ll be the only kind offered. Again – liberals love when everyone is EQUALLY MISERABLE. Because it’s fair.
But wait! There’s more!…
Update: Hospitals: The cost of admission by Steve Kroft of CBS News.
If you want to know why health care costs so much in this country, consider this, it’s estimated that $210 billion a year — about 10 percent of all health expenditures — goes towards unnecessary tests and treatments and a big chunk of that comes right out of the pockets of American taxpayers in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments…
Update 2: ObamaCare: The Bloated Booby-Trapped Gag-Gift That Keeps on Taking … and Taking
…if you really want an idea of where healthcare will go in this country, all you need to do is look at the cracking and crumbling UK government healthcare system, the NHS. Cold. Brutal. Sadistic. Inhumane. Calculating. Those words might just be too kind to describe it. Do not doubt this is the way it would have to slide in order to “function” and exist…
Update 3: “The taxpayer-funded PR blitz for Obamacare”
…It’s one thing when advertisers seek to drive emotional connections with lite beer, pick-up trucks, and air fresheners. It’s something else when the government hires advertisers to drive emotional connections with government policies and institutions. This goes far beyond the old-fashioned “good government” idea of providing information to citizens. In its essence, it differs not at all from a Stalin-era poster hyping the Soviet government’s policies to a beleaguered Russian people…
