[Vision2020] Health Insurance is NOT Health Care

[Andreas Schou]

>
> First, if I lose my job after 4 months of work in the year, I will go
> broke. Obama will force me to buy insurance, which consequentially will be
> about $300 a month if I lose my job (those offered COBRA, know what I mean
> first hand). His promise to help the poor, (those making less than $930 a
> month) won’t apply to me because after 4 months of work, I will be over
> $10,500 income mark to receive government assistance with insurance costs.
> Who can afford $300 a month on $10,500 a year? Obama thinks everyone can.
>

Donovan --

You are wrong. The subsidy in the Baucus bill, which is by far the most
conservative, is set at 300% of the poverty threshold, or around $33,000 for
an individual. The more reasonable subsidy level set in the House is around
$44,000, or 400% of the poverty threshold.


> Second, one way to pay for part of this horrible plan, Obama is going to be
> making cuts to Medicare. This is horrible
>

You are wrong. The bill tinkers with Medicare reimbursement rates (more for
primary care, less for specialist care), rolls back reimbursement for
Medicare Advantage to the Medicare reimbursement rate, and establishes
comparative effectiveness research boards. Though I doubt the "waste, fraud,
and abuse" savings will be as high as they say it is, there are no Medicare
"cuts."

Yes, you tell me, but what about Medicare Advantage? Medicare Advantage is a
program that reimburses private insurers for medical care. It reimburses at
114% the rate that Medicare does. There is absolutely no reason for this to
be the case.


>
> Next, it would provide free medical care to anyone that could crawl, climb,
> walk, roll or drive, legally or illegally, into the United States.
>

You are wrong. Illegal immigrants are ineligible to receive the subsidy.
Insofar as they might be able to obtain health insurance through a health
insurance exchange, they join the risk pool without subsidy, reducing
insurance rates for everyone else. This is comparable to the way things work
today; illegal immigrants will be no more able (but also no less able) to
pay for health care health insurance than they are today.


>
>
> Another aspect of this bill will be an increase in your insurance premiums.
> If *everyone *regardless of illness, injury, or ailment, is allowed into
> your insurance co-op, then there will be more medical costs, and more costs
> handed to you. The only way insurance companies could absorb those costs
> would be to raise your premiums and deductibles.
>

You are wrong. The majority of the savings come from diluting the insurance
pool in two ways. First, the individual mandate (which requires people to
buy health insurance) adds healthy people to the health insurance pool.
Second, the insurance exchanges broaden the risk pools across several
insurers. Third, a public option or co-op option would cram down insurance
companies' profit margins by forcing them to compete with a nonprofit
option.

Literally no point you made has any foundation, as per normal.
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