Rant on Obama-care

This is what I think about when I think of government programs.

Programs that in essence want to do well and help out the common man but in the end become bigger and more expensive than most of the private sector. 

So many stories have come out lately that really "get my goat" and annoy me about Obama-care.  I respect the effect that Obama-care might have, i see it as another big player that if successful, may bring down the general price of insurance for everyone but from what I hear right now, the government's plans are more expensive and no one that is actually healthy and can pay into it is actually using buying in. If things don't change, It's a sure scenario for Obama-care's eventual downfall.  

I'll tell you, one of the things that really annoyed me since its inception was how there was going to be a rule that everyone had to have health insurance.  I know people will compare it to auto insurance and say it's just like that but I'd say it's very wrong and downright evil to tell everyone that they MUST buy something in order to live legally in the United States.  Not everyone has to have car insurance technically and telling me that I must buy into some kind of health insurance by 2014, is very very wrong.  At this time, my job does not provide for my health insurance.  I know from searching for personal health insurance in my past that it is super expensive.  Even with a full time job, it's going to be tough to pay for.  What right does the government have to tell you that you must spend up towards 30% (to be conservative) of your pay for health insurance when the federal and state government (here in NY) take over 30% from my paycheck already!  If someone has a long term disease or needs long term care, I'd say they need to pay for insurance and should in order to help keep health care rates down rather than show up to the ER and expect Medicare to pay but in the end of course, that's just what a lot of people who need long term care do.  And, if you're low income, you can't even contribute into or buy your own health insurance anyway.  I digress though, that's an argument for another day.

I've heard so many stories recently though, stories about people losing the insurance that they have paid into for years.  There's a relationship that comes into play between an insured and insurer there.  Most company men, I'd suspect, would say that's wrong.  Some regular folks might say as well, that in the end, companies don't care and you might still not get any help when you need it but I'd like to think there's something personal in an insurance relationship.  Not only that, but you pay into an insurance plan, there is a trust there that you have done your part and hopefully you've paid each and every month, a fair price so that when you need help, the policy will be there to help you.  After you've paid into it for a few years to a few decades, if you have to get a government policy, and if that price skyrockets, you can't help but think that you're being cheated and being forced into paying more for the same policy, less of a policy, or parts of a policy that you don't need. This really makes me mad as well.  I've been hearing a lot of stories about people that have had their policies killed off because supposedly, they don't measure up to some government ruler of insured and what they need.  In a lot of cases, the insurance policy that ends up cancelled is one that has been paid into for years and is exactly what the insured needs (give or take a little bit).  But, here's the real kicker, some people, a good percentage, are being told that one, their old policy is no longer valid, but two, that their new policy is going to be more expensive.  And what do they get for that extra cost?  NOTHING!  What else?  Because it's the law, there is no alternative and that is really sad. 

Lastly, on my rant today, I really hate the stories I've heard about more expensive government plans that may provide more care that older plans didn't but they are more expensive because they provide health care for things that the insured doesn't need!  I'm just a common man so I don't know all the details on what the government deems "must haves" for an insured's policy but one thing I have heard over and over again is that for example, maternity care, MUST be on all plans now for all women.  This has lead to the situation where many women past menopause who end up switching from an invalid plan (which didn't cover maternity) to a new one (which must cover maternity and with which they don't need) end up having to pay more because of it.  What is that?  I'd say that's gender discrimination!  Especially since you're forcing women who don't need parts of a plan to pay for it because of the simple fact that their women!  I don't know what other looney rules there are in Obama-care right now but I'm assured they'll come out sooner or later thanks to our media system, reporters that tell us everything we need to know, don't need to know, and don't care to know.  It's actually a very good thing.

Well, that's it for my rant on Obama-care tonight.  It's been building for months.  I had to say something.  What do you think?  Is this scheme actually going to end up more for good than evil when it's all said and done?  I know my usable income will be down if I end up having to buy my own health insurance, probably by a lot, not happy about that at all.  In the end, will more "healthy" people choose to go with the government and be insured and in turn, buy into the system that will have enough liquidity to take care of those who are very sick or low income?  Will health insurance companies see that this is their opportunity and provide good plans for lower prices and blow government health care to smithereens by proving what we all knew, health care is much too big a universe for a government to handle?  That's my personal take.  With all the government has to worry about and take care of, it didn't need to take on healthcare.  Since it did, it should have had a full proof plan to bring the price down, especially since the cost of being insured and the cost of healthcare are so so high right now.  I'm not foreseeing good things in the future on the healthcare front and I'm in total wonder and what the field will look like at the end of it all.  Good luck to us all!