So what was it that our President was saying about this fabulous healthcare bill? Lower premiums? Saving money in the long run? Let's take a look at how it's actually going to play out. While it is true that the Affordable Healthcare Act will provide coverage for more people, the other promises that have been made regarding it cannot be true. Here's why. If you extend coverage to those who are currently uninsurable, or were, then the riskiness of covering people has increased a lot. Insurance companies no longer have a choice of who they can cover. They must insure anyone who applies for the insurance. This includes those with cancer, heart disease, and any other disease. The thing about insuring people who have pre-existing conditions is that it automatically increases the amount of money that the insurance is going to pay in benefits.
Now, just like any other company operating in the United States, insurance companies want to be profitable. No one opens a business hoping that they will just break even or lose money. Everyone I know who has opened a business wants to be profitable. So don't harp on big business because they want to make a profit.
Anyway, like I was saying, if a company's costs go up a lot they only have a couple of choices. 1) They can increase the premiums they charge for the insurance coverage 2) They can lower other expenses. They have already lowered expenses. I've experienced this first hand. Every insurance company has cut commissions in half or more to those selling health insurance. Many companies have also pulled out of a lot of areas to help cut costs. What about increasing premiums? Well, they have gone up as well. You can compare the new premium prices to a group plan. Most people think that group plans are inexpensive with great coverage. Why are they inexpensive? Because the company is either picking up all or part of the premium. If you were to have a group plan and pay the full premium, you wouldn't like it. An individual plan, however, is much more affordable assuming that you were healthy. That's essentially what's going on with the healthcare act. There are going to be subsidies, which is the government picking up a portion of the premium for those who qualify. This works just like the employer picking up a portion or all of the insurance premium for the employee. So to many people it is going to appear to be a better deal because they don't have to spend anything out of pocket, or very little compared to what they would have to spend otherwise. The premium is still the same, high. They just don't have to pay the whole thing. That's fine and dandy if the government had the money to do it. The fact is that healthcare is the most expensive thing that the government could have taken on. If you think Social Security is a problem, look at Medicare. The indebtedness of the United States government to Medicare far outweighs its indebtedness to Social Security. So they decided, "What the heck! We'll take on the entire nation's healthcare costs! It'll save us money!" That couldn't be further from the truth. Think of it this way. If the nation could only pay its bills for three weeks before defaulting, it can't afford to pay for anything else. The only way to fund this healthcare bill is to issue more debt. The nation's debt is going to go out of control from this and it's going to hurt.
The American people need to stop this entitlement stuff. We aren't owed anything! The way this nation was founded, we are to work hard and become self sufficient. Along the way, we help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. That's what makes a nation great! The desire to work hard and help others, especially our families. Entitlement is just selfishness and feeling robbed of something we thought we deserved and haven't attained yet. The truth is, nobody can change your life for you. If you want something, you're the one who needs to take action and go get it. There is always someone willing to assist you in the areas that you need help. Let's make America a better place by taking accountability for our own selves!
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