“A few months back, one of our Democrat colleagues warned of a ‘huge train wreck’ on the horizon–the implementation of Obamacare. And yesterday, we received another warning as Obamacare speeds down the tracks. This one came from the GAO, which highlighted a number of missed deadlines that cast doubt on the ability of the Administration to even get the law up and running by October 1st.
“Of course, the GAO is not the first to issue such warnings. Some of us have been sounding a similar call for years – that Obamacare is set to become a bureaucratic nightmare.
“Most of the law’s key provisions haven’t even been implemented yet. Not a single American has signed up for an exchange. And already, it’s turning into a mess. Well, it wasn’t hard to see this coming.
“We’re talking about a 2,700-page piece of legislation here. We’re talking about a law that has already generated more than 20,000 pages of regulations—a Red Tape Tower. And we’re talking about an edict that proposes to alter one of the most personal, most private aspects of our lives in a fundamental way.
“So it doesn’t take an expert to understand what that leads to. Reams of paperwork. A massive new bureaucracy. The coordination of numerous hulking government agencies, including the IRS.
“And it can’t be done without the people the government is attempting to regulate – doctors, hospitals, states, small businesses, hundreds of millions of Americans – actually having a clue of how to comply. And many of them don’t, because the law is just so maddeningly complex.
“So, of course Obamacare is going to be a mess. We said it would be. It already is. And yet, earlier this month, the President said that Obamacare was ‘working the way it’s supposed to.’
“Maybe that’s why, just yesterday, a survey of Americans showed only 19 percent – fewer than 1 in 5 – believe that Obamacare will make their family better off. Only 19 percent. And it found a much great number – half – worried about losing the health coverage they already have.
“There was another survey released recently too: a survey of small business owners. It found that 41 percent of small business owners said they’d frozen hiring because of Obamacare. About 20 percent said they’d already reduced their workforces because of it.
“Remember: this is a law that’s still being implemented. And that many businesses already seem to be firing people?
“I hope that’s not a preview of what we’ll see once Obamacare actually comes online. But, given the evidence thus far, it’s hard to draw a different conclusion.
“I mean, the Kentucky Retail Federation recently cited Obamacare as the thing having the most impact on their businesses’ ability to grow. As the leader of that group put it, the companies in his federation ‘are hesitant to take on new staff or to invest in their own business growth until they know how much health care reform is going to cost.’
“So, if this is a law that’s ‘working the way it’s supposed to,’ then it’s a bad law. And it’s Congress’ duty to repeal bad laws. I hope it will.
“I hope my Democrat friends here in the Senate will finally work with us to do that. Because we can’t do it without them. They have the majority. And if they can muster the will to admit their mistake, I hope they can also find the will to work with us to start fresh on health care.
“This time, I hope they will actually work together with Republicans to get something done for the American people. In my view, that means pursuing effective, step-by-step reforms that can not only lower costs, but that can also be implemented effectively and understood completely by the constituents we were sent here to serve.
“I know my constituents back in Kentucky would expect as much of us. And they should.”
It is the insurance company’s tying the doctors hand. I have insurance and can not get certain things done until 2014 when the health care act goes into affect. Since it is not in affect how can it hurt anything?
Has anyone stopped to think that maybe all of this disaster could have been put to an end if only Romney would have been elected? We have these idiot, ignorant liberals to thank for this mess!!
“my voice”
It’s not your voice at all. You simply parrot Hannity and Rush talking points in your own dumb way. You don’t have your own voice because your drunkin’ dad beat it out of you.
That’s right. He just sits around in his wheelchair all day taking out his hostility on everyone around him. We really should pity him.
@Sik and Stupid-Your ignorance is only matched by your STUPIDITY. I have told you over and over again that I am not “My Voice”. You are so paranoid and delusional you can’t seem to understand it. I am sorry STUPID, sarcasm falls out of my mouth just like STUPIDITY falls out of yours. 5 east has a room reserved for you again. You will be well taken care of there you paranoid idiot.
Shut up gimp
@STUPID-what’s the matter? Did they kick you out of 5 east again? Just give it time and Matt will ban you again to. You are to STUPID to debate with the people on here. Your level is about 5th grade. You seem to be hung up on me being a gimp. Doesn’t bother me at all. Just shows more of your ignorant STUPIDITY. I do not walk with a gimp and I am not confined to w wheelchair all day like you hope I am. You need to know that I caught up with every one of those people who bullied me when I was younger and they will never do that again. When I catch up with you and I will, you won’t either. Now go away and play with the other kids you Libraterd Idiot.
Lol…you both crack me up! 😀
Seriously…Can I buy you a cup of coffee?
My dad was a drunk yes but your mom was a drunk AND the town whore…so what’s your point?
@Liberty Boy, LVS, Katie, and others….you’ll never change her mind. Her name says it all…she is what she is and she’s sick of it but she can’t stop being…what she is. You’d have a much more intelligent conversation with a wet rag.
The fact is…Obamacare is going to RUIN more than just the medical industry. I admit the medical industry was/is in need of reform but this is a JOKE. You just watch everything else it drags down with it. Then, stupid people like this will cry and blame….GWB because they are too stupid to admit the truth. Stupid is just what it is…STUPID.
@MyVoice, what she is, is a good example. A good example of the Marxist Progressive Left. Thanks Sic!
@My Voice, Liberty Boy, Maybe and Katie-You all be careful now. You will hurt her feelings again and she will quit posting for a few months.
There is 1 thing that bothers me alittle. She can go off on her tangents about how great Obama is and all his programs. Whatever she has said to me has never hurt my feelings at all. I believe she is grown up enough to know that whatever I say to her I am not attacking her or trying to hurt her feelings.
Well, well, well. An entire post devoted to attacking me. This certainly seems familiar. Could it be that the man of many names is at it again?
There is absolutely no hope for people like you. Even this transparent attempt to coerce other posters into attacking me has LVS written all over it.
Hear me now, gimp: I don’t care what you think. You are so uninformed it’s actually kinda sad. It’s one thing to be uneducated – it’s quite another to be so willfully ignorant as to cause people to disregard you as a person.
Katie and Maybe and I are on very different ideological paths, but I respect them. You, on the other hand, are just plain repulsive. You don’t have an opinion, you just spew hatred.
Don’t waste your breath and twist yourself into knots trying to come up with something extremely vulgar or some other blatant lie in response. I have decided to continue posting here as long as Matt allows it and I don’t care whether you like it or not.
@STUPD-I am going to tell you one more time you dumb Sh##. I am not my voice. This is the only time I have answered you in at least a week. I don’t debate with STUPID people.
I think most doctors go into the “business” to help people and wealth is a nice “side effect” when it happens. Not every doctor gets rich. Some struggle. I think the reason we are not able to get general practice doctors to come to our area is 3-fold: not enough cultural events; not enough cultural variation; and not enough income for family practice doctors. I’m sure there is culture shock and financial shock for anyone moving here from a metropolitan area. Personally, I would love to live closer to a metropolitan area such as Faribault or Ankeny, where it is just a short trip to the Cities or Des Moines.
As an aside, I see our location and declining population as a big problem for our future in medical care and job growth. Unless we can attract the interest of some large manufacturing business that requires great technical skill, paying great wages, that agrees to locate here with NIACC providing training to area people so we can provide a workforce for that business, we have little hope of growth in our area. But our unemployment figures are way lower than other areas in the nation, so we are not very attractive to that type of business. It would take a huge coordinated effort to bring this about. We need another TeamQuest on a much larger basis, with manufacturing jobs.
@Katie-I would agree with your comments. Part of the problem as I see it after having been in manufacturing most of my life is, every high school counselor and every parent of a high school student tells the kids they need to go to college. It is my opinion that most of the kids are not college material and just waste the time and money. They would be much better off going to a trade school and learning to run robots, CNC Machines, Weld or any of the construction trades. Until we can turn this around in this area we will continue to have a lack of skilled labor and will continue our downward spiral.
The basic philosophical question is if all Americans have a right to health care? I say no. The poor person gets poor housing and everything else. They are not entitled to free Cadillac health services in my view.
Obama sees it different because he saw his mother being destroyed by it. His mother lost everything when she became ill.
What we should have is major medical for everyone. You get cancer we help. You get injured in an accident we help. You pay the first $3000. This way it keeps people from wasting hospital visits and if you save $3000 and put it aside you are always covered. If you get cancer and the bill is $250,000 you only pay $3000. This we should’ve done because what Obama did is make everyone want to take a government job for healthcare.
@Iberra-and what about the people who do not have $3,000? There are a lot of them you know. If something isn’t done about them they will continue to flood the E.R.’s and not pay for it and then you have the same situation as now. Either that or they won’t get medical help when they need it and then everything is an emergency. It is never as easy as people think. Now, that being said, I don’t think doctors should be making a million dollars a year anymore than CEO’s. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Pete, you are a ‘Leftwing Moonbat Protagonist Windbag” as yourself as usual! Your criticism of Mitch is just an attempt by you to defend BO and The Progressive Lefts massively disastrous health care laws about to be foisted on an naive and vulnerable American populace. Surely you know, when you look at your CMS statements from Medicare you can see if you read them that the Real Culprit is your ‘Gubment’ at work here again! When the ‘Gubment’ receives a $10,000 hospital, bill check it for what percentage the ‘Gubment’ actually pays. Typically on say a cancer patients chemotherapy bill of $150,000 the ‘Gubment’ will pay roughly around 20%. It’s “repriced down” to $30,000. I’ll bet you would like to reprice down all your bills like that wouldn’t you? When any business loses that much top line they scramble to compensate or ‘Stop Providing Service’! No More Hospital! Question is how do they compensate? I’ll bet even you can admit to this one, yes they raise prices on the ‘Third Party’ right? AKA, “The Insurance Co”! The hospital gets some of the shortfall back from them. How does the “Insurance Co” then survive if they don’t pass those now higher healthcare losses on to the customers who pay the premiums? Yes raise them, Premiums I mean. In effect you have the ‘Gubment’ ripping off its people YET AGAIN, AKA every chance they get! And that’s without BO’s now fatal Healthcare about to take the winning prize for steamrolling America over the Historical Cliff where all 3rd World Nations go! I know, you in your advanced age will be using BO’s services (like Suzy Boggess says) “someday soon” enjoy the waiting, the rookie doctors, the the bureaucrat intervention, INCREASING COSTS. It’ll be an eye opener for a ‘Lefty’ like you!
@Liberty Boy-you are absolutely correct. On top of that I know one business in the healthcare business who had to pay back 70K to medicare last year and they told him they would give it back if he could rejustify healthcare items from three years ago. Now, understand, he justified it then and had their approval and now they pull this crap. He is the next thing to going out of business over it. He is basically a two person operation and 70K really stings. This is all due to Obamacare.
LVS, Concierge Medicine is going to be the way to go! My advice my friend is, prepare, prepare, prepare. Otherwise life is gonna suck for those who don’t. Like the complainers, the Poor, and Lower Middle Class! The same ones BO deceives for votes.
Umm, not true AGAIN, boy. Medicare pays closer to 80%. Your part B private policy, which is paid for 100% by YOU picks up the 20%. Oh, and you also pay a fee for part A medicare – usually around a hundred bucks a month. Plus a fee for your part D plan. So the “gubment” is paying.
And Suzy Boggess didn’t sing Someday Soon originally. The Ian Tyson hit was originally sung by Judy Collins back in the sixties. Many, many singers have recorded it since Judy, Suzy being only one.
@sicco what planet are you living on?
Pete, we should all go back to burning WOOD!
@Peter L.-I don’t know if Obamacare is working the way it was intended or not but, I can tell you that the cost of prescription drugs has gone up 20% to fund Obamacare. I can also tell you that every medical professional I have talked to in the last few months is screamimg bloody murder over medicare being defunded and not paying what it did a year ago. Also, to fund Obamacare. So, I will say from my point of view they are funding Obamacare at the expense of the people who pay for their insurance. Now, I know there will be people who take issue with that but this is my opinion.
It has absolutely nothing to do with Obamacare. It’s because the FDA has approved a ton of name brand drugs in the last couple of years which drives up the cost of the others because the insurance companies have to pay for them. The wise thing to do would be to allow Canadian drugs in or at the very least demand that big Pharma negotiate the cost of medicare/medicaid drugs. But nobody has the backbone to go against big health AND big pharma. It’s like blaming food stamps for all the farm and big energy handouts. You’re screaming at the wrong people.
Sic, one solution could be to snap up all those left over drugs from the Ole Soviet Unions National healthcare days. Left over because they kept them from their people.
Yes, that should work.
Where, in this crybaby rant of Mitch’s, do we get “not working the way it’s supposed to”? All he has is some fear mongering mixed in with baseless assertions. It IS working and will CONTINUE to work despite the teapubs best efforts to hurt the American people in favor of big business.
Sicorstpd, Aren’t you the one who claimed BO was the one to fix the “The Great Recession” way back in 08? Then you said in 09 he couldn’t fix it by then cuz GW made it too big. Then in ’10 you said it was even bigger than that, even tho BO initially claimed only He knew the full extent of the problem and, He would bring everyone together in Washington and apply His Special talents to remedying this problem, Quickly. And when that didn’t happen in ’11 well I don’t remember what you said then, more of the same most likely. And ’12 hmm, maybe He was to busy listing to all that NSA “Metadata”, or maybe He was trying to get Hillary to answer that pesky 3:00am phone call she went on about. I know He will surely get around to in ’13 cuz look at all the poor and middle class people who have lost their jobs, and even their homes. Speaking of homes I wonder how many couples have divorced due to all of this financial Mayhem. Families broken up under all of this stress while waiting for Obama to solve this like He said He would. When they are FORCED to pay fines when they can’t get healthcare waivers like the congressional staff workers will, or all those companies that received waivers granted by Obama, well, at least He Bailed out Wall Street! We can thank him for that. With ’13 half gone will we have to wait till NEXT YEAR, ’14? That would be year SIX! I for one won’t be holding my breath, I am near blue now! Maybe ’17 or ’18……. Man, this late in th game, (recession) PATHETIC! Or maybe He just wasn’t what He said He was. maybe He is and always has been, ‘The Great Deceiver’
I said all that, eh? Hmm, oddly enough I don’t recall that. Maybe because I have never and would never make such asinine broad statements. But you would, so carry on. Next lie, please.
I would say Obamacare is working exactly as planned…which is the assured destruction of our nation’s healthcare system, in order to create a public outcry for a full government takeover. The Democrats knew exactly what they were doing.
One example, please.
First obvious lie, if you have health care insurance, you can keep your plan. This bill will not affect you. We all know that to be BS. You can’t overhaul the whole system without affecting everyone. Some of the things that are happening, premiums skyrocketing more than before Obamacare was passed, employers dropping coverage, and plans being altered or eliminated due to Obamacare provisions.
The entire point of the bill was to drive employers to drop their employee health insurance, to drive premiums sky high, and to leave millions more without insurance, all while doing nothing to address the real cost of health care. The once a larger percentage of the country can no longer afford health care, they will have no where else to turn than the government. This legislation was just a way to get more people dependent on the government, and assure another generation of Democrat voters. Welcome to the land of the free giveaway.
No, it’s not a lie. You CAN keep your current health insurance. And it’s not the fault of Obamacare that rates are going up. It’s the fault of the insurance companies. If you want to be mad at somebody, be mad at THEM. They’re the one hiking the rates! There is NO reason for this rate hike – NONE. Haven’t you people been paying attention?
Sika, you really need to open your eyes at whats going on around you and stop believing everything whatshisface is telling us. I don’t really know HOW you can see whats going on and still believe what Obama is telling you is the truth. I read an article today that said while Obama was a senator he was pround to tell everybody that he was born in Kenya and has spent millions of dollars since running the first time covering that fact up. I am not a birther b
but it makes you wonder.
Sickastupd a report was out a couple of months ago that a large percentage of Doctors I think it was 25% that are getting out of their practice because they do not want to deal with Obamacare. Another report just recently had to do with doctors that were opting out of taking insurance payments and medicare. They were only doing cash or payments from their patients. They were able to do things cheaper because of the paper work involved. I this this is what obamacare is going to a black market health care where you can get the care you need in a timely manner without the hassle of filing insurance. The problem with Obamacare is it leading by design to become a single payer health care system. Anytime you drive out competition you drive up cost, or make make storage of the care. Things that could have help with health cost were not even considered. Allowing insurance companies to do more cross state lines with their insurance, allowing HSA so people took more personal responsibility with their own health care, and tort reform so we get the malpractice cost under control and not add unneeded test and cost. Obama care does none of that
Anony: you are exactly correct. This was the best the little O could do with health care, but he made sure it would destroy the system we had with onerous taxes, fines, burdenous reporting, higher premiums, and such a fubared mess that within a couple years, if it wasn’t overturned, everyone would be crying for a different system and he would be able to get nationalized health care passed and cut out the insurance companies. Soon we will all have a huge percentage of our income taken out of our checks to pay for nationalized health care for everyone!
The working public will soon be screaming for this different system because those working for employers with fewer with 50 employees will no longer be covered. Those employers will not be fined if they drop coverage. Employers with more than 50 employees will either provide the minimum of coverage required or drop hours so they don’t have to cover employees. It is ALREADY happening. They may also start hiring through temp agencies so they don’t have to deal with the paperwork, which is horrific. You can’t imagine all the paperwork you have to provide to a new hire and that you have to hand out to all employees every time they update something. This applies to all employers, regardless of the number of employees. What employer with 10 employees can spend all his time reading insurance updates every stinkin’ day? We get them in the mail, by email from our agent, by email from the insurance company, and from some other benefits manager. I’m sick of it already! We are down to 2 employees out of 4 eligible covered. If one drops out, we can’t have a group policy. And then we’ll never provide it again because all these hoops are not worth it, it costs us a fortune, and the tax benefit is not worth crap. I just got about 60 pages that I have to read, initial a sheet that I have read them, explained them to 2 employees, made them watch a ridiculous CD about how much money they’ll save if they don’t pay tax on premiums that they don’t need or want to watch and don’t have time to watch, and have the sheet back to them tomorrow. It’s all BS.
Sicka: Unless you are dealing with this mess on a daily basis, you cannot say it is working. You are not paying the monetary price or the time involved price. It is NOT working for businesses or for the insurance companies. It is not working for doctors. I recently read that some doctors are refusing all insurance and are just charging less. The ACA will be the downfall of our medical system. I’m getting all my stuff fixed now because I doubt I’ll get anything done once I’m on medicare because the government will be making all the decisions instead of my doctor and the insurance company.
Good lord, Katie! This is the fault of the INSURANCE companies! Ask an underwriter! They know what’s happening too! Big insurance is scrambling to grab as much as they can right now before people start leaving in droves for the much more affordable government system. Every literate free country in the world has health care but us – why is that? Oh, wait, don’t answer that – it’s because WE have “job creators”! How could I forget!
The insurance companies are being taxed by the government for providing insurance. How fair is that? They have to pay for those on the government system as well as their insured. Thus, those of us paying premiums are paying higher premiums to pay for those on the government system, plus we’re paying higher taxes somewhere for them as well. I’m sicka it! And I can assure you, I would rather see an insurance company make money and pay income taxes than see our government take this over, tax US to death, and go farther into debt because it can’t run crap without corruption, waste, and totally screwing it up!
You mean the minimum cost thing where they must spend a certain amount on actual medical care or face taxes and fines? Seriously? You think that’s a bad plan? Or are you talking about the pittance they all have to contribute to pool for the high risk people? Never mind, neither of these things is causing rate hikes.
It’s the insurance companies and the teapublicans hyping hyping hyping because they know this will have a few bugs, but ultimately Obama will go down as the president who finally reigned in the healthcare industry.
ACTUALLY Sika, Obama is going to be known as the president that divided a great nation. No other president in HISTORY has done that to this degree. Plus all the controversies…..
@My Voice-a strange thing happened this evening. Channel 6 News out of Austin, Mn. had a news segment telling how Minnesota was losing primary care doctors and they didn’t know how they were going to find more. The strange thing is they said it was because of Obamacare.
Oh ya LVS, the tide is starting to turn…even his beloved Liberal media is starting to see him for what he REALLY is. Just wait, in the end the truth be know and the stupid will still be in denial. Stupid is as stupid does…it’s always been that way and it always will be that way.
@Katie, have you heard Kathryn Sebelius explain the ObamaScare financials balancing in the Out Years due to the elimination of Baby Boomers?
” The medical industry is filled with heartless pricks who have no business in the field of medicine. The insurance industry shouldnt even exist.”
I find that statement absurd. If one insures his property, motor vehicle, or business, it is the same thing when one has an insurance policy on health. Both parties take a risk. The insurance company accepts the risk, and hopes you stay well. You as a policy holder accepts the risk that the costs you encounter on premiums and co-pays offset what it could have cost you without insurance.
“Doctors are engaged in a constant pissing match against insurance companies at the patient’s expense.”
I suppose your business does not see cost increases on a yearly basis. I suppose you have the same liability insurance a medical office has to have. I suppose your business does not have to hire more and more people, and adapt to new technologies to keep up to date with government mandates.
” Doctors and hospitals arent innocent either. They do million dollar work ups when insurance plans are gold.”
When one walks into a doctors office with a complaint or illness, they hold the expectation that the staff will get to the bottom of the ailment. However, it is not that simple. Humans cannot see past your skin. Humans do not possess ESP to know exactly what is giving you problems. They depend on what you tell them, and act to find out what and why. A lot of times, that takes testing, depending on the particular condition observed, and the Doc’s acumen. Some of those tests are quite expensive.
If you don’t want them, that is your choice, but then you are playing doctor, and want the real physician to guess what is going on in your body.
“……..The solution is for practitioners of medicine to enter the field with the intentions of curing disease, not getting rich.”
That’s just plain envy. Well two can play this game. You want to make guitars, fine. I want the government to limit what you can make to $2 an hour so you don’t get rich! And you better not screw up gluing the wood either. One flaw, and I will hold you liable and sue you and your insurance company for millions! The shoe is on the other foot now, how does it feel?
Right, just the way the two parties worked together before, NOT. Wingnut!
A, Wake up, the 2 parties don’t “work together” they work against each other! One side, (yours) works to further subjugate the people, the other side works to thwart that goal, sadly they are naive children trying to play nice with the Devil and losing. It is only the thing that you fear most that can ‘Rescue This Country’, yes The TeaParty! And we are on it!
AH, yes. The last 2 sentences explain everything. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.