Investors.com - 20 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms


If some reports are to be believed, the Democrats will pass the Senate
health care bill with some reconciliation changes later today. Thus, it
is worthwhile to take a comprehensive look at the freedoms we will lose.

Of course, the bill is supposed to provide us with security.

But it will result in skyrocketing insurance costs and physicians
leaving the field in droves, making it harder to afford and find medical
care. We may be about to live Benjamin Franklin's adage, "People willing
to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will
lose both."

The sections described below are taken from HR 3590 as agreed to by the
Senate and from the reconciliation bill as displayed by the Rules
Committee. Committee on Rules

1. You are young and don't want health insurance? You are starting up a
small business and need to minimize expenses, and one way to do that is
to forego health insurance? Tough. You have to pay $750 annually for the
"privilege." (Section 1501)

2. You are young and healthy and want to pay for insurance that reflects
that status? Tough. You'll have to pay for premiums that cover not only
you, but also the guy who smokes three packs a day, drink a gallon of
whiskey and eats chicken fat off the floor. That's because insurance
companies will no longer be able to underwrite on the basis of a
person's health status. (Section 2701).

3. You would like to pay less in premiums by buying insurance with
lifetime or annual limits on coverage? Tough. Health insurers will no
longer be able to offer such policies, even if that is what customers
prefer. (Section 2711).

4. Think you'd like a policy that is cheaper because it doesn't cover
preventive care or requires cost-sharing for such care? Tough. Health
insurers will no longer be able to offer policies that do not cover
preventive services or offer them with cost-sharing, even if that's what
the customer wants. (Section 2712).

5. You are an employer and you would like to offer coverage that doesn't
allow your employees' slacker children to stay on the policy until age
26? Tough. (Section 2714).

6. You must buy a policy that covers ambulatory patient services,
emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental
health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health
treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services
and devices; laboratory services; preventive and wellness services;
chronic disease management; and pediatric services, including oral and
vision care.
You're a single guy without children? Tough, your policy must cover
pediatric services. You're a woman who can't have children? Tough, your
policy must cover maternity services. You're a teetotaler? Tough, your
policy must cover substance abuse treatment. (Add your own violation of
personal freedom here.) (Section 1302).

7. Do you want a plan with lots of cost-sharing and low premiums? Well,
the best you can do is a "Bronze plan," which has benefits that provide
benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60% of the full actuarial
value of the benefits provided under the plan. Anything lower than that,
tough. (Section 1302 (d)(1)(A))

8. You are an employer in the small-group insurance market and you'd
like to offer policies with deductibles higher than $2,000 for
individuals and $4,000 for families? Tough. (Section 1302 (c) (2) (A).

9. If you are a large employer (defined as at least 50 employees) and
you do not want to provide health insurance to your employee, then you
will pay a $750 fine per employee (It could be $2,000 to $3,000 under
the reconciliation changes). Think you know how to better spend that
money? Tough. (Section 1513).
10. You are an employer who offers health flexible spending arrangements
and your employees want to deduct more than $2,500 from their salaries
for it? Sorry, can't do that. (Section 9005 (i)).

11. If you are a physician and you don't want the government looking
over your shoulder? Tough. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is
authorized to use your claims data to issue you reports that measure the
resources you use, provide information on the quality of care you
provide, and compare the resources you use to those used by other
physicians. Of course, this will all be just for informational purposes.
It's not like the government will ever use it to intervene in your
practice and patients' care. Of course not. (Section 3003 (i))

12. If you are a physician and you want to own your own hospital, you
must be an owner and have a "Medicare provider agreement" by Feb. 1,
2010. (Dec. 31, 2010 in the reconciliation changes.) If you didn't have
those by then, you are out of luck. (Section 6001 (i) (1) (A)).

13. If you are a physician owner and you want to expand your hospital?
Well, you can't (Section 6001 (i) (1) (B). Unless, it is located in a
country where, over the last five years, population growth has been 150%
of what it has been in the state (Section 6601 (i) (3) ( E)). And then
you cannot increase your capacity by more than 200% (Section 6001 (i)
(3) (C)).

14. You are a health insurer and you want to raise premiums to meet
costs? Well, if that increase is deemed "unreasonable" by the Secretary
of Health and Human Services it will be subject to review and can be
denied. (Section 1003)

15. The government will extract a fee of $2.3 billion annually from the
pharmaceutical industry. If you are a pharmaceutical company what you
will pay depends on the ratio of the number of brand-name drugs you sell
to the total number of brand-name drugs sold in the U.S. So, if you sell
10% of the brand-name drugs in the U.S., what you pay will be 10%
multiplied by $2.3 billion, or $230,000,000. (Under reconciliation, it
starts at $2.55 billion, jumps to $3 billion in 2012, then to $3.5
billion in 2017 and $4.2 billion in 2018, before settling at $2.8
billion in 2019 (Section 1404)). Think you, as a pharmaceutical
executive, know how to better use that money, say for research and
development? Tough. (Section 9008 (b)).


16. The government will extract a fee of $2 billion annually from
medical device makers. If you are a medical device maker what you will
pay depends on your share of medical device sales in the U.S. So, if you
sell 10% of the medical devices in the U.S., what you pay will be 10%
multiplied by $2 billion, or $200,000,000. Think you, as a medical
device maker, know how to better use that money, say for R&D? Tough.
(Section 9009 (b)).
The reconciliation package turns that into a 2.9% excise tax for medical
device makers. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better
use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 1405).

17. The government will extract a fee of $6.7 billion annually from
insurance companies. If you are an insurer, what you will pay depends on
your share of net premiums plus 200% of your administrative costs. So,
if your net premiums and administrative costs are equal to 10% of the
total, you will pay 10% of $6.7 billion, or $670,000,000. In the
reconciliation bill, the fee will start at $8 billion in 2014, $11.3
billion in 2015, $1.9 billion in 2017, and $14.3 billion in 2018
(Section 1406).Think you, as an insurance executive, know how to better
spend that money? Tough.(Section 9010 (b) (1) (A and B).)

18. If an insurance company board or its stockholders think the CEO is
worth more than $500,000 in deferred compensation? Tough.(Section 9014).

19. You will have to pay an additional 0.5% payroll tax on any dollar
you make over $250,000 if you file a joint return and $200,000 if you
file an individual return. What? You think you know how to spend the
money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9015).

That amount will rise to a 3.8% tax if reconciliation passes. It will
also apply to investment income, estates, and trusts. You think you know
how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Like you
need to ask. (Section 1402).

20. If you go for cosmetic surgery, you will pay an additional 5% tax on
the cost of the procedure. Think you know how to spend that money you
earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9017).

It's articles like that that make me turn off to all political jargon. Was that writen by a 12 year old?

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Why? Because it actually goes against the obamacare is so wonderful view? (BTW the word is written )

Wow, are we testy this morning or what? OK, typo alert. Whatever.

For what it's worth, I don't like Obama any more or less than any other politician. I've lived long enough to see that they are all in the same boat. Some are a bit better and some are a bit worse but the cookie cutter is the same.

Sorry but you're coming across like this is the end of the world. In the end, it's probably not going to make a whole lot of difference. There are enough really important things to get upset about. In my book, this isn't one of them.

Wish I could be around in 50 years to see if it makes more than a paragraph in the history books.

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Er, posting an article how it takes away our freedoms is acting like it's the end of the world? Really? I think you might be the testy one this morning you've brought nothing to the conversation but silly insults (what was it written by a 12 year old, no read the article it's written by a well known Washington reporter)

I just posted an article feel free to read it or disregard it.

This is socialism at it best and sneakiest. There is so much in this bill that the public as a whole has no clue about.

Thanks for posting.

I found the article really interesting, well-written and informative.

You're very welcome

Nice article. I know several doctors around here who are saying they are quitting. They were so upset by this healthcare reform and the way it has been presented to the public! The only person this is a win for is the government!

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Check out my homepage http://julie.mycoupons.com/

Bless you for posting this wake up call. I'd rec your post but I dont think we have this feature.

The plan sounds wonderful to me, and that is from reading more than that one-sided article. I read in depth and I like it.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

Moderator can we get this thread stickied?

14. You are a health insurer and you want to raise premiums to meet
costs? Well, if that increase is deemed "unreasonable" by the Secretary
of Health and Human Services it will be subject to review and can be
denied. (Section 1003)


They want us to feel sorry for insurance companies. Now that is funny.

An insurance company is a business, when the goverment can come into a business and tell them that thye can't raise their rates to meet costs, that's something that should worry you.

The point is that insurance rates and costs are not the same. If you believe that you really don't understand insurance or finance in general.

And of course the Federal government can dictate payment if we are the ones paying. Any business can play or get out if the profits aren't enough. That is called capitalism.

You're kidding right?

So if you open up a business the federal government should be able to dictate what the public pays for your service?

In any business (or any successful business I should say) rates and costs are not the same, why should insurance be any different? THAT is capitalism.