Even Obama Disses 'ObamaCare'

Here's something protesters could get worked up about: President Obama caves to industry and savages his own health reform law, beating Republicans to the punch.

Citing cost concerns, the White House announced last week it has scrapped the long-term insurance program that was a key part of the President's massive legislation passed last year.

The reason for abandoning this effort to persuade Americans to invest in their long-term care? It was voluntary, and officials surmised that not enough people would pay premiums if they don't have to. And it would have threatened the private plan market. In other words, if the insurance industry loses money forget about it.

Which points to how the Obama health law could unravel if the individual mandate to purchase insurance for current care goes away. As the demise of the voluntary long-term care plan demonstrates, unless everyone is forced to buy insurance, the industry won't play ball. There just aren't enough premiums collected to cover benefits in a system that must also generate huge profits for companies.

The bottom line is that Obama's insistence on keeping the private insurance industry the boss of our health care system could well doom his reform effort.

Why didn't the President choose Medicare for all when he had the chance? Because he was obsessed with winning bipartisan support, which didn't happen. Now Republicans can't wait to dismantle his health law bit by bit - and, incredibly, he just showed them where to start.

Now on Craig's blog: GOP "Occupy" Spin Backfires

 

 

 

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Comments

[Carly EngageAmerica]

10:38 AM on 10/20/2011

Beneficiaries would be technically “safe” from cuts to Medicare, but who’s to say what happens when doctors stop seeing Medicare patients. This cut would be in addition to the already 6% decrease that was issued for the phasing in of Obamacare. In response to these cuts there is a growing trend in hospital consolidation where private payers are charged more to make up for the public payers’ lower reimbursement levels. With the institution of Obamacare, this cost shifting will continually become more pronounced, raising premiums for the privately insured. Therefore, such cuts as these will not turn out to be very helpful to the American people anyway.

[Craig Crawford]

02:50 AM on 10/18/2011

In 2008 it was so clear to me that Obama was not a convincing champion for those, including my media colleagues, who believed his hope-and-change rhetoric. But there was no persuading them otherwise. The evidence-free fever for him sort of frightened me. Still, I hoped him would prove me wrong. He didn't.

[LibertyQuotient]

07:22 PM on 10/17/2011

Obama dashed my hopes for another FDR almost from the get-go. He is n Oval Office puppet of powerful corporate interests just like all of his predecseeors since FDR.

What can we do about it? See my answer at www.uschamberofdemocracy.com

Gary Brumback

[Cleverboots]

04:52 PM on 10/17/2011

This is the second time that Obama has favored the insurance industry over the good of the American people. This is not change we can believe in and this is not the Obama we want in the White House in 2013.

[Canuckview]

03:46 PM on 10/17/2011

Obama has been a very sad cynical joke.