OBAMA GOING AFTER HEALTH INSURERS, SO WHO'S THE LARGEST INSURER ? THE US GOVERNMENT
In his latest move to try and gather support for Obamacare, Barack Obama is touring the country and demonizing the Nations health insurers. Using the, "if you hate them, you'll love us," strategy used by tyrants throughout history. Every dictatorial tyrant has always picked a group, a people, or a company to demonize in order to rally people behind him.
Obama is now using this dictatorial tactic to try and garner support for his health care legislation, by whining that the health care insurers are the evil entity that everyone should hate. The entity who is causing the, "health care crisis." The entity whose greed is causing high health care cost, ( of course he fails to mention that insurers only have about a 2% profit margin). And the evil health care insurers are the reason why Americans cannot afford health care.
Now I am not a huge fan of the health care insurers but first let's get a few things straight about this demonizing that Obama is using and the truth about insurers. As I mentioned above, health care insurers currently only have about a 2% profit margin which is well below most companies who are considered successful that garner about an 8% profit on their goods or services.
Second, health insurers are regulated by the particular state in which they sell their service and as such they must abide by that regulation which in most respects dictates much of the price of premiums. Additionally since health insurers CANNOT cross state lines competition is minimal and the cost is based on ONLY those who participate within a particular state which again limits price reduction that comes from larger purchasing power.
But one fact that Obama has yet to mention concerning health care insurers is that the United States Government through Medicare and VA services is the LARGEST health insurer in the world, dwarfing all other health insurers. One of the main arguments that Obama uses to press his health care agenda and the government take over of health care, is the denial of services by health insurers.
In one year the US Government health insurance entity, Medicare DENIED services nearly 7% of the time. The closest in the private health care insurance industry was AETNA who covers just over 600,000 while Medicare covers almost 7 million. So AETNA denied coverage to about 43,317 people while Medicare denied coverage to nearly 500,000 or only a little over 100,000 less than all of the people AETNA covers.
So tell me again Mr. Obama, why should Americans trust the largest health insurer to provide services consistently when that insurer is already denying services at the largest percentage of ALL health insurers ?
Additionally private health insurers are making a profit, though minimal at 2% , but a profit none the less which is a clear sign of a successful business. The United States government insurers are going bankrupt and Obama is proposing to take another 500 billion dollars from Medicare in order to, "pay, " for Obamacare.
Insurance coverage through Medicare is the largest deficit buster in the federal budget every year and Obama wants to add to this to the tune of 2 trillion dollars with Obamacare. Taxes cannot be raised enough to cover Medicare much less Obamacare. Obama claims that his program is budget neutral yet the, "services, " don't begin until 4 years after passage, if it passes, but the taxation and Medicare cuts begin immediately.
According to the, "plan," this four years of money to, "pay," for Obamacare will be put in a, say, "lock box,", (sound familiar), and saved to cover the first few years of Obamacare. When has the government saved any revenues to pay for anything? The money is already included in Obama's 2011 budget which means that he plans on spending it so when the , "services," begin the program will be bankrupt just like Medicare.
The latest polls show that 57% of Americans DO NOT want Obamacare. Although Obama and his Democrat leadership in Congress are pushing this budget buster against the will of the American people, Pelosi and Reid cannot find the votes to get this debacle passed because most in Congress are not willing to commit the political suicide that they are being asked to commit. Obamacare is and will become the swan song of Obama's Presidency and its failure will be theme of failure of this jokers one term in the Oval Office.
Ken Taylor
Obama is now using this dictatorial tactic to try and garner support for his health care legislation, by whining that the health care insurers are the evil entity that everyone should hate. The entity who is causing the, "health care crisis." The entity whose greed is causing high health care cost, ( of course he fails to mention that insurers only have about a 2% profit margin). And the evil health care insurers are the reason why Americans cannot afford health care.
Now I am not a huge fan of the health care insurers but first let's get a few things straight about this demonizing that Obama is using and the truth about insurers. As I mentioned above, health care insurers currently only have about a 2% profit margin which is well below most companies who are considered successful that garner about an 8% profit on their goods or services.
Second, health insurers are regulated by the particular state in which they sell their service and as such they must abide by that regulation which in most respects dictates much of the price of premiums. Additionally since health insurers CANNOT cross state lines competition is minimal and the cost is based on ONLY those who participate within a particular state which again limits price reduction that comes from larger purchasing power.
But one fact that Obama has yet to mention concerning health care insurers is that the United States Government through Medicare and VA services is the LARGEST health insurer in the world, dwarfing all other health insurers. One of the main arguments that Obama uses to press his health care agenda and the government take over of health care, is the denial of services by health insurers.
In one year the US Government health insurance entity, Medicare DENIED services nearly 7% of the time. The closest in the private health care insurance industry was AETNA who covers just over 600,000 while Medicare covers almost 7 million. So AETNA denied coverage to about 43,317 people while Medicare denied coverage to nearly 500,000 or only a little over 100,000 less than all of the people AETNA covers.
So tell me again Mr. Obama, why should Americans trust the largest health insurer to provide services consistently when that insurer is already denying services at the largest percentage of ALL health insurers ?
Additionally private health insurers are making a profit, though minimal at 2% , but a profit none the less which is a clear sign of a successful business. The United States government insurers are going bankrupt and Obama is proposing to take another 500 billion dollars from Medicare in order to, "pay, " for Obamacare.
Insurance coverage through Medicare is the largest deficit buster in the federal budget every year and Obama wants to add to this to the tune of 2 trillion dollars with Obamacare. Taxes cannot be raised enough to cover Medicare much less Obamacare. Obama claims that his program is budget neutral yet the, "services, " don't begin until 4 years after passage, if it passes, but the taxation and Medicare cuts begin immediately.
According to the, "plan," this four years of money to, "pay," for Obamacare will be put in a, say, "lock box,", (sound familiar), and saved to cover the first few years of Obamacare. When has the government saved any revenues to pay for anything? The money is already included in Obama's 2011 budget which means that he plans on spending it so when the , "services," begin the program will be bankrupt just like Medicare.
The latest polls show that 57% of Americans DO NOT want Obamacare. Although Obama and his Democrat leadership in Congress are pushing this budget buster against the will of the American people, Pelosi and Reid cannot find the votes to get this debacle passed because most in Congress are not willing to commit the political suicide that they are being asked to commit. Obamacare is and will become the swan song of Obama's Presidency and its failure will be theme of failure of this jokers one term in the Oval Office.
Ken Taylor
posted by The Liberal Lie The Conservative Truth | 12:08 AM
7 Comments:
Ken,
Are you schizophrenic ?
How can Health Care Reform be government take-over of health care if the government already runs the bulk of US health care?
You go on and on in several of your recent posts (including this one) claiming there will be a government take-over of health care; scary, scary!!!! Now you try and say the opposite, that VA and Medicare (don't forget active service-members, SCHIP, and quite possibly most Federal workers) are already bigger than private insurers combined. Are you looking for a job with Fox Noise; wait, you don't have to answer that.
Can you try and provide an answer to this one simple question?
For bonus points; where the heck does your graphic come from; did you make these numbers up in MS Excel? Nice!
Regards.
p.s. Is the $500 Billion cut coming from Medicare benefits or cuts to Medicare Advantage (private insurance) subsidies (would that be socialism?), along with reducing overall Medicare waste and fraud?
BTW, do conservatives like waste and fraud, or is recovering these costs OK with you guys?
BBUNK, I have read your commenting and frankly I usually do not respond to those who see it as there goal in life to personally attack people they do not know simply because those people have a difference of opinion, but I will make a acception hear because your arrogance is getting annoying.
First this blog is a place wher I express my opinion based obn my beleifs and my own personal research from various sources. As far as your lame accusation about the graphic, I found it and it is not up to me to provide you with sources that are readily available on the web. If you want to research then feel free to do do as I have.
I have read consistantly your attacks against Tom and others who visit this site regularly concerning their use of wiords such as reconciliation and phrases as the nuclera option. With you makin claims that these are things they dreamed up. In that you display your obvious lack of research on your part because those words have consistantly been used by numerous news sources and members of Congress themselves both on the left and on the right.
Once again you are of the opinion that you and you alone are the come all and end all of information adn we who do not agree with your psotion are ignorant and not capable of coming to intelligent conclusion based on our own beliefs and principls.
As far as health care is concerned and my charge of government take over, I ask you this, have you read any part of any of the bills ? I have and it is quite obvious that taking over health care is the goal when the bill mandates unconstitutionally that every citizen must purchase health care or face fines and/or imprisonment. Is this freedom or a tyrannical take over of a portion of our personal and private lives ?
Each version of the bill is designed to eliminate the private sector health insurers with the eventual goal of a single payer plan mandating coverage to all citizens. This is not just in the bill, but came from the mouth of Barack Obama himself in a speech he gave about 5 years ago. I have viewed the speech, read the transcript and also the provisions of the bill which fullfill his , "dream." I have done the research which has created my opinion of this debacle and it is not my responsibility to do your research nor provide you with evidence that is readily available at the click of a mouse.
Incidently, we who are regular participants have the courage enough to provide a profile which lays who we are and what we believe on the line for all to see. You on the other hand do not have the courage to do the same. You use our forums to express your disagreement with our thoughts and arrogantly claim we are idiotd because we follwo our own conscience and constitutiona right of free speech and happen to disagree with you.
Where do we find your thoughts and opinions laid on the line as we do ours for all to see. Nowhere because you are wonly willing to arrogantly challenge we who have the courage to take a stand. You have the constitutional right to disagree just as we have the right to disagree with you. But personal attacks through arrogance and then not providing a venue such as a profile or your own blog where we may be , "blessed," with your obvious superior, (all sarcasm intended), insight provides a total lack of credibility to all of your arguments.
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Mike
Ken: I love some of your commenters... Where DO you get moonbats like bunky?
The arrogance and condescension just DRIPS off every word of his/her/it.
How quickly do you suppose bunky's massively inflated ego will pop when he/she/it learns they are not the smartest person in the room?
Thank you for taking the time and effort to reply; I hope it will be worthwhile to you. I accept that your blog is the place for your comments just as you state. I hope that you agree that each of us who speaks up in the public sphere (original or reaction) is subject to further comment.
Well, I admit I was over the top in this post, and a bit harsh with inappropriate personal comments intended as tongue-in-check humor. Nothing fails like a bad joke. I apologize for the schizophrenic and MS Excel references.
Let me clarify that, despite my failings, I still think you claim to hold two opposing opinions regarding government and health care: already under control as well as going to be taken over and then be under control. I find this very odd. Frankly, with private insurance remaining in their current role, I find it hard to seriously think that there is any material shift in the portion under government control. And as far as mandatory purchase (agree or disagree), here again most people already have a policy; only a small portion will have changes (not enough to call it take-over IMO).
Regarding single-payer; with all or nearly all the industrialized world using a form of this system, as well as our own experience with this form currently, I don’t fear this at all. But it’s not in the bills. No one knows the future; any comments now are speculation at best. IMO, this topic has no value while discussing HCR today.
On a serious note regarding citations (in general), you are free to cite your source, or not. Please understand that, without references in your posts, the reader cannot understand what is research-oriented, and what is opinion. Unable to separate them, we are left to decide for ourselves and draw our own conclusions (and perhaps get hyper-comedic if the mood strikes us). BTW, this citation talk has nothing to do with wanting anyone to do my research. I’m fine with that.
Moving on to a different thread: It is unfortunate that my comments on the two distinct concepts of reconciliation and the “nuclear option” are considered personal attacks. These are not just words; they have established common meanings, as I’ve shown. I don’t believe, as you claim, that I’ve made claims that anybody dreamed up anything here. Perhaps my forceful comments regarding those who continue to believe sources that lie about these words meanings were too strong. However, my research itself is spot on; and none of my references have been refuted. I’m not even sure my references were opened at this point.
It’s worth noting that my references do include videos where the two concepts are conflated, just as I claim. In addition, I provided references to the definitions involved. Once combined, the conclusion is clear. Now why would there be video evidence of misuse here? Perhaps there is an agenda that attempts to confuse and convince an audience that up is down. If you have references to non-conservative or GOP speakers combing these phrases as one idea, I’d be extremely, hugely interested (can someone put me in my place and teach me something new to prove my fallibility???). Oops; sorry. This is where a citation will have more power over an opinion (no offense intended).
Re: ”… you alone are the come all and end all…”, I don't recall having said any such thing. I don’t want to discuss every point you make about my comments without you including a citation in the thread where it actually happened. I’m sorry to be particular about evidence in these matters. Once the proof is in, I am one who has shown to be open to apologies, where warranted.
One topic you haven’t raised is why prior threads simply went dark; no responses offered. It is difficult to know if you found any agreement or found me 100% batty, or ???. Just curious.
That should do it for your first post; I’ll try to review the next and see if I have anything to add.
Mike,
re:
Ken: I love some of your commenters... Where DO you get moonbats like bunky?
The arrogance and condescension just DRIPS off every word of his/her/it.
How quickly do you suppose bunky's massively inflated ego will pop when he/she/it learns they are not the smartest person in the room?
"arrogance and condescension ?" Well, i'm guessing it must really take one to know one. I'm not sure how credible it is to compare your commentary to mine as it relates to these characteristics.
I've included several specific questions and comments on the content from the OP; where do you even begin to relate to my content. You must be from the school of "deflect and ad hominem" style of attempting to say something while not really saying anything. Kind of a smart a$$ approach.
Well, IMO, this is not too smart (doesn't really take any brain power or level of intelligence to spout such drivel). And if you take away the smart, I guess your left with you being just a plain a$$.
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