Insurance

If Obamacare Stands, You Really Need The NEWSS

It was less than a year ago that President Obama and other leaders of the liberal U.S. government were out on the stump, selling "Obamacare" medical reform to the American public. So unconvinced were voters that their protests gave rise to the "tea party movement" - a movement which led to a tidal wave of defeat for the president's party in the recent mid-term election.

Seems voters have a longer memory than the liberals may have suspected. Among other things, the electorate was able to recall in November 2010 the sales pitch they heard from August 2009 to March 2010, when Obamacare passed. It was a sales pitch that featured the president and other liberals making such promises as: "If you like your health care, you'll be able to keep it" ... "There will be no federal funding for abortion" ... "The right-wing fearmongers claim our reform will lead to rationing of care - it won't."

Since those promises were made and Obamacare rushed through its one-party passage, voters have learned that all of these promises were false. I give the president the benefit of the doubt - he simply didn't know what some of the law's provisions were, since neither he nor anyone else had time to read the thousands of pages before passing the legislation. So maybe some of his promises weren't really outright lies (though one could argue that a president should know what's in legislation he's signing, before signing it, and certainly before making false promises about it). But whether intentional or not, the effect of these proclamations is disastrous. The American economy is like a patient with a horrible ailment - it's had a trillion-dollar medical "reform" shoved down its throat. The patient, plagued by plenty of illnesses before Obamacare, might have survived anyway; but now, the prognosis is pretty bleak.

There are plenty of reasons about two-thirds of Americans want Obamacare repealed. It was rammed through with dubious parliamentary trickery. Despite being billed as a cost reduction, the legislation actually bloats government spending and will drive tax rates through the roof. It's dishonest, intentionally or not. As I discussed in previous pieces, it is already causing a dangerous shortage of doctors and innovative medical talent. In short, it isn't about "health care reform," it turns out to be all about government revenue and power.

So will medical care really be rationed? And will we really lose health care plans we wanted to (and were promised we could) keep? Unfortunately, the answer to both questions is "yes." It won't happen all at once, and in some cases the pain won't be felt for years... but Obamacare, if left to stand, virtually guarantees government control of all medical care and the inevitable rationing that would accompany that.

Already, thousands of people have lost the health care plans they wanted to keep. Their employers, in some cases large firms, have decided to pay the government "penalty" for failing to offer health plans rather than to continue to offer the coverage itself. Why? It's less expensive. And given the march toward socialism upon which our liberal government is leading the economy, companies need to save every penny they can.

Was this an unintended consequence of the liberals' good intention to get everyone covered? Maybe. I tend to think it's all happening by design. As soon as no company can afford to offer health insurance (or, as soon as no health insurer has enough business to keep its doors open), all patients will necessarily have to be routed to a "government option." While the original Obamacare legislation didn't include a public option (only because of the deafening outcry by the tea party movement), the law leaves the door open to creation of government health insurance in the future... a future envisioned by liberals in which there is no economic viability of private insurance.

Eventually, all doctors will be government doctors. All hospitals will be government hospitals. All pharmaceutical companies will be federal projects. Private enterprises simply can't compete with the federal government, which can do everything from regulate them out of profit to print money as a false prop for a centrally-planned economy.

Once this long-awaited liberal utopia has been inflicted upon what once was the world's greatest medical system, rationing can't be far behind. Does anyone believe the U.S. government can run a socialized medical system without rationing? The British don't. The Canadians don't. Michael Moore's buddies in Cuba don't. In short, no one does. Rationing is key to "controlling costs" (read: "controlling the population"). We've all heard stories such as those told by our friends and neighbors up north in Canada: yes, you need a life-saving procedure.... yes, such procedures are performed in Canada... yes, you can get on the list to wait for one of the rationed spots on the surgical schedule... no, you are not likely to be around when your turn comes up.

No, you won't have any trouble getting into the U.S. for the surgery, in time to save your life... if you have the money.

I sure hope I'm wrong on this. But I can only see one way this future doesn't come to pass: Obamacare has to be de-funded, repealed, and replaced with a real reform that leaves our great free-market system in place but provides for needed improvements. Hopefully, with a new Congress coming to town in a couple of months, this course of action will be possible.

Meanwhile, rationing is only one of the scary aspects of our new "health care reform." It's only one reason your health habits matter, and you need to take personal responsibility for your own vitality now so that you might be less dependent on government medicine in the future. Start with the five key daily habits I call The NEWSS: Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sleep, and Supplements. Eat fresh foods and stop eating processed crap. Exercise at least five times a week, getting your heart rate up for at least 15 minutes. Drink two liters of water every day. Get eight hours of sleep. And take a good multi-vitamin (I recommend an easily-absorbed liquid nutraceutical).

Since this government takeover of our medical system is going to actually cost you much more on your tax bill, you might want to move now to protect your financial health, too. Start a business on the side to create a protected revenue stream from which you can't be laid off. And get smart about the global conspiracy against wealth.

It's hard to believe our great medical system has become like a patient on life support. Unless we can reverse it, Obamacare will put the patient to sleep - permanently. That's why you have to wake up now, and take personal responsibility for your own vitality.