Yesterday, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said that religion cannot be used as a shield against ObamaCrapCare, that a religious organization must be forced to provide insurance for services for which that body does not support. They as well as the Supreme Court keep relying on the Commerce Clause to force all employers to purchase a product, in this case health insurance. We disagree strongly, however, do not feel that we will win as Roberts has been turned into a stool pigeon or even worse, a sell out to his supposedly conservative beliefs.
This is a continuation of a sad story in American history. The law is being twisted into something that the Founders would not recognize. On top of it being a terribly written and conceived law, it is patently illegal to force someone to purchase anything. What is next-- you must own a car from Government Motors or you must have solar panels on your house or you must employ illegal aliens or you must ... (you fill in the blank)?
Once you require that a free man must purchase a product, he no longer is free. He is a subject to whomever sells that product. Prices can be raised arbitrarily and you must pay the fare.
In the case of ObamaCrapCare, supposedly prices can only go up so far each year, however, who says that "waivers" would not be granted for larger increases due to a health crisis or as a favor for a company that provided money to a campaign--but that would not happen, right?
On the price topic, we heard today (from one of our companies for which we sell health insurance) that prices for insurance in Ohio were going up a tiny 98% effective January 1st. So much for the argument that rates would be stable!!
We must end ObamaCrapCare, it is a disaster and it will only get worse.
Conservative Tom
Federal Court Rejects Christian University’s Request To Overturn Obamacare, Opens Possibility Of New SCOTUS Consideration
July 12, 2013 by Sam Rolley
On Thursday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Commerce Clause of the Constitution’s gives Congress the authority to demand that employers purchase private health insurance for their employees or pay government fines.
By rejecting the Liberty University lawsuit that was a bid to overturn the healthcare law on grounds of religious freedom, the court opened up the possibility that the Supreme Court could once again hear arguments about Obamacare, as the university plans to appeal.
“Plaintiffs present no plausible claim that the act substantially burdens their free exercise of religion, by forcing them to facilitate or support abortion or otherwise,” Judge James A. Wynn Jr. wrote in the opinion. He wrote the law “allows an individual to obtain, and an employer to offer, a plan that covers no abortion services at all.”
Liberty attorney Mat Staver said the fight isn’t over.
“At least the court reached the merits and did not try to dodge the issues on procedural or standing grounds,” he said. “This clears the way to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will be the final stop anyway.”
Did you read the court's opinion? I did. Roberts already agreed with Alito, Thomas, Scalia, Kennedy that Congress does not have authority under the commerce clause to impose the individual mandate. The 4th circuit held that the employer mandate is, however, within the commerce clause authority in that corporations are already engaged in providing compensation packages to their employees, health insurance is an important component of compensation, the Supreme Court has held in many precedent cases that Congress has the authority to regulate compensation (minimum wages, etc.) that affect interstate commerce, and health insurance practices of corporations have significant impacts on interstate commerce (via labor markets, etc.). Employers under ACA are not forced to buy any particular health insurance plan, or any insurance at all. However, they can't continue to stick us or other employers who do offer insurance to their employees with the higher premiums we must pay as doctors, hospitals raise their prices to compensate for all the uninsured free-loaders who use emergency rooms whenever they get sick. Now these companies will finally have to contribute some tax money to cover these costs. I say it's about time!
ReplyDelete--David
"Currently, the average American family pays 20% of their income for health insurance."
ReplyDeletehttp://obamacarefacts.com/costof-obamacare.php
Check the graph. Family healthcare costs have increased 100% in just the last 10 years. This is obscene!
Obamacare caps premiums at 9.5% of the employee's income for self-only coverage. That is half of the 20% average that they were getting. No, United Healthcare won't go out of business in 5 years (and you will owe me $20), but Obamacare will get per capita healthcare costs in this country a lot closer to the rest of the world that has universal health care. Who knows, maybe we can even have the public option someday.
--David
Obama Crap Care was created with one goal in mind--to make such a bad plan, that the country will throw up their hands and say "give us one payer." That will occur within years. So you will get your wish!
ReplyDeletePremiums in Ohio will be going up 98% January 1. So much for your "keeping premiums down argument."
Premiums will not go up 98% in Ohio. Where did you get that from? Did you read the Milliman report on Ohio premiums? Their projection is higher than CBO (10-13%), but nowhere near 98%. It is 55-85% based on an estimate of the composition of the exchange pool that is divergent from CBO. Also, affordability should be measured by net cost after application of subsidies.
ReplyDeleteFor us to get single-payer, the Democrats would have to take back the House and get 60+ in the Senate. Not likely.
--David
I have contacts within several insurance companies and they are a) not involved in the exchanges the first year and b) will be increasing the premiums by 98% to 110%! This is first hand knowledge and not something conjured up by a Obama supporter.
ReplyDeleteYou believe that? If they increased premiums 100% in one year, they would price themselves out of the market. Think about it. Their customers would switch to Obamacare or some other lower cost policy. It also means that their current premiums are WAY too LOW relative to what the market would bear. For-profit insurance companies don't leave money on the table! They know their price points.
ReplyDeleteCheck this out…
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newrepublic.com/article/113440/obamacare-rate-shock-higher-prices-can-mean-better-beneifits#
I found the comparison of Obamacare cost to the United Healthcare Saver 80 policy very interesting. It is why everybody in Ohio who has United Healthcare Saver 80 should switch to Obamacare ASAP. The other reason, of course, is that UHC is lousy on customer service.
--David
David, this man does not know anything about insurance. The United Health care plan 80 is misquoted. It has variable amounts of deductible and not only the $10,000. False writing by someone who is trying to be a cheerleader for the Obama-nuts instead of being a journalist delving into the facts.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, with 80 some companies participating in the current Ohio market, that number will shrink dramatically. Michigan had similar amounts of companies and as of a couple weeks ago the number participating are eleven. Most are not for fear of "adverse selection." The first ones in the market are going to be hammered by sick people who think they can get free coverage.
In the New Republic article, you did notice the point that the increase would be 88%. So lets say that is hyperbole, let's cut it in half? Would you want a 44% increase?
Here it is from the proverbial horse's mouth..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.online-health-insurance.com/coverage-by-region/TX/plans/645.php
This point Crum is making in that paragraph is that, if you think the Obamacare $6,350 deductible is high, there are much higher deductibles already available from companies like UHC, for example. That does not mean that they don't also offer policies with lower deductibles, and he did not say they don't. You are attributing a statement to Crum that he did not make.
Then, when you compare all the benefits you get from Obamacare to what any of the Saver 80 plans provide, it is understandable why Obamacare premiums will be higher. You are getting a lot more benefits for your money. After all, premiums are just one element of your total healthcare costs, unless you are lucky enough to never get sick! Otherwise, you have to consider what the co-pays, etc. will cost you for the year in addition to the premiums, and then adjust for your Obamacare subsidy if you are under 400% FPL. That's the big picture, and it will look especially good for millions of currently uninsured sick people, old people, and poor people.
Finally, when you consider the level of competition in the industry, if we have 10-12 companies competing in the exchanges, that is a great improvement over the current oligopoly where only a couple giant companies dominate the market in virtually every state and collude to fix prices. You know that. Like any other business, the companies that get in early get the bulk of the market share. Yes, they get the sick people, but they also get all those young, healthy people who provide the profits in this industry. If UHC, etc. come to the party in 2015-16, they are going to have to get customers away from the companies that already have most of the market locked up. Maybe, but in any event, the competition will be good for consumers.
--David