Weighing in on the healthcare debate

MY TWO CENTS ON THE HEALTHCARE BILL
Taking a break from wedding blogging

I'll come out and say it. I'm not a fan of Obama's Healthcare plan. My stomach literally sank when I learned that the Senate passed the bill. Now, it's official. Obamacare has arrived, and I feel that we are all in trouble.

Before I start my rant on this bill, let me just state that I realize that there are many problems associated with the health insurance industry. Out of all the bills I pay in my life, I hate paying my health insurance the most as I usually don't take advantage of it. I pay a pretty penny per month, and I have at the time, zero health problems. But I never know what can happen, especially since I mountain bike, play football, and do a lot of extreme sports. Do I want to pay more for health insurance? Hell no. Do I want the price of insurance to come down? Hell yes. I want it to come WAY DOWN. So as you can see, I am all in favor of health insurance reform and getting prices lower for everyone.

I also believe that there is a problem with insurance companies dropping individuals when those individuals health and age are in question.

Fixing our health insurance industry doesn't require a politician or a degree in rocket science. In fact, there are just two simple things Obama could do to fix this problem:

1. He could sign a bill that would allow inter-state, even inter-country, purchasing of health insurance plans. By opening up the free market, there is no doubt that insurance companies will pop up throughout our entire country. You may have a company that specializes in health insurance for college students, pregnant women, those with cancer in their 60's, etc...etc... At the moment, there is no free market system in the insurance industry. This is why prices are so high.
   
   
2. He could sign a bill that would include tort reform. Tort reform would cap lawyers from suing doctors and surgeons into the stone-ages for making a mistake.

The Obama healthcare bill does not do apply any of these common sense changes that would likely lead to fix the health insurance industry. In fact, his plan does the opposite, and does everything to burden the U.S. economy and the small business man.

Under this new law, I will have to pay a "Cadillac Tax" of around 40% just because I can afford my health insurance plan. I personally have two options to cover this loss of income. I can either downgrade my insurance plan to a cheaper one, or I can raise the prices of my wedding packages. I ask, is this fair? Now I'm not rich, I'm middle-class.

Under this new law, citizens of the United States will also be required to purchase health insurance from a private company. Never before in the history of the United States has the government forced anyone to purchase a service or product. Supporters of the bill compare this law to the mandatory purchase of car insurance when you buy a car. But car insurance is not a mandatory purchase of any citizen. If you don't want to pay for insurance, you simply don't buy a car and ride the bus. Now, Americans will be fined up to $2000 by the IRS for not purchasing insurance. I ask, is this fair?

The true cost of Obamacare can be seen not through the cost of the bill, but more so, through the destructive tidal waves it will carry throughout the American economy for decades to come. American companies are literally coming out by the hour, telling their employees that this bill will increase their overhead by millions, and even...billions, and will also decrease their health benefits. These companies will either raise the cost of their services, or lay off workers, or they may do both.

The healthcare bill totaled over 1000 pages, creating literally a maze of new taxes and kickbacks only a lawyer would understand. Healthcare reform should have never been this complicated...

To make things worse for our economy, Obama and Congress, are now focused on pushing through a cap and trade tax program, in the same forceful way as they did with their healthcare bill, in an attempt to stop the earth from warming. Cap and trade is a complete b.s. tax program where you will literally buy the air from your neighbor or friend, so you do your part, to stop the world from warming. This tax will literally kill the economy. For your wedding, you will now be charged a carbon tax for every guest. If you have a bbq pit at your reception, yup...you'll pay a carbon tax. I can go on and on. This tax will most likely increase your budget by at least 20%, if not more. Ughh....

------------------------------------------------

Obama ran on the notion that he was working for the middle class American. But since taking the reigns of the United States, he has done nothing to help middle class America. To date, he has given billions to Fortune 500 companies that he deemed to big to fail. He took over AIG, Mortgage Companies, Car manufactures, and Banks. He does blow his own horn and tout that he gave tax cuts to 90% of America, which laughably averages out to $15 per middle class American. Last I heard, AIG got billions of your tax dollars.

Times are going to get tough, is all I have to say. Right now, I fear, these will be the good times. If you must travel, do it now. If you want to get married in Hawaii, truly, do it now before these taxes kick in. Save your money as much as you can, and have at least a 6 month reserve just in case everything hits the fan. I'm serious here. If Obama gets his full agenda in motion, we are all in trouble.


Steve Young
"Today, just a concerned American"