52 reasons Obamacare can't work

Obama's signature law falling apart on multiple  fronts

Published: 8 hours ago

Garth  Kant

Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable  Care Act, his signature legislation, into law

WASHINGTON – Rod Coons and Florence Peace, a healthy couple in Indianapolis,  spend only $500 every year on medical care and say their current health plan  works well for them – but Obamacare will soon strip them of that contentment,  forcing them to pay soaring rates and accept inferior care because their  existing plan isn’t “government approved.”

And they aren’t alone.

Many Americans don’t realize their health plans won’t meet Obamacare  standards next year, experts  warn.

Abbey Bruce, a nursing assistant who works a second job cleaning, learned she  will now pay a sharply higher deductible, because of Obamacare’s so-called  Cadillac tax, which penalizes companies that offer high-end health care plans to  employees.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, stands beside a  towering stack of Obamacare regulations

The problems don’t end there. Now that America is finding out what’s in  President Obama’s signature legislation, dozens upon dozens of severe problems,  failures and unworkable plans are coming to light. And now, polls show most  Americans are beginning to suffer both sticker shock and buyer’s remorse.

The controversial, 10,000-page  law is now literally falling apart on dozens of different fronts, as a  comprehensive WND review has revealed.

Obama promised his health plan would improve  coverage, lower premiums by $2,500 per family and allow Americans to keep their  doctors and health plans, but a crushing mountain of evidence is indicating  otherwise.

Given the more than 50 major problems WND has  documented, all of President Obama’s promises appear either highly in question  or unlikely to happen, more than three years after his Affordable Care Act was  signed into law March 23, 2010.

The most recent glitch is a significant one: The administration’s decision to  delay  the caps on out-of-pocket expenses is a large part of what is supposed to  make the Affordable Care Act affordable. No caps on out-of-pocket expenses means  insurance customers will have to pay more for co-payments and deductibles and  insurance companies will be required to pay less.

This setback to Obamacare is merely the latest  in what has become a long and staggering list of failures or impending  failures – including the most important promises affecting cost and  coverage. Some of the most striking Obamacare problems are:

• no guarantee Americans will keep their  doctors,
• Americans may lose their health  plans,
• worsening health care,
• higher premiums,
• higher taxes,
• budget deficit increase,
• hiring freezes,
• slashed workers’ hours,
• killing existing jobs,
• killing new jobs,
• jobs already killed,
• 1,200 business waivers,
• higher Medicare costs,
• seniors may lose Medicare,
• most Americans don’t want  it.

The list of Obamacare failures, problems and setbacks is growing at a faster  pace as Obamacare approaches its implementation deadline of Jan. 1, 2014:

1) Americans  may lose their doctors: The  president promised, “No matter what you’ve heard, if you like your doctor or  health care plan, you can keep them.” However, that promise is not necessarily  true, according to his own Department of Human Health and Services. HHS recently  posted the answer to this question on Healthcare.gov: “Depending on the plan you choose in the Marketplace, you may be able to  keep your current doctor.”

The government explains, “Most health insurance plans offered in the  Marketplace have networks of hospitals, doctors, specialists, pharmacies, and  other health care providers. Networks include health care providers that the  plan contracts with to take care of the plan’s members. Depending on the type of  policy you buy, care may be covered only when you get it from a network  provider.”

3) Worsening  health care: The New York Times reports as many as 75 percent  of health plans will be affected by the so-called “Cadillac tax” on what the  administration labels high-end plans. A health-care expert warned consumers  should expect their plan is going to be more expensive and they will have fewer  benefits. The Times predicts those patients can expect to visit clinics instead  of doctors for prescriptions or blood-pressure checks; programs, rather than  doctors, to manage such chronic conditions as diabetes; and a health screening  to determine one’s odds of developing a costly health condition.

4) Higher  premiums: Although Obama claimed his program “would save the  average family $2,500 on their premiums,” a Wall Street Journal study revealed  premiums for healthy people could actually double, or even triple.

5) Higher  taxes: The Heritage Foundation found 20 new or increased taxes  in Obamacare, including taxes on investment income, Medicare payroll, the  individual and employer mandates, insurance companies, insurance plans,  innovator drug companies, medical device manufacturers, medical bills, flexible  spending accounts for special-needs children, over-the-counter medicines, parts  of Medicare D, Blue Cross/Blue Shield deductions and charitable hospitals.

6) Budget  deficit increase: The GAO reports Obamacare will increase the  long-term federal deficit by $6.2 trillion.

7) Hiring  freezes: A Gallup poll found  more than 40 percent of small businesses have frozen hiring because of  Obamacare.

8) Slashed  workers’ hours: A survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found  half of small businesses affected by Obamacare plan to either replace their  current full-time workers with part-timers or cut their workers’ hours because  of the law’s requirements.

9) Killing  existing jobs: The same survey found 24 percent of small  businesses plan to cut staff to less than 50 to avoid paying penalties for not  providing health insurance.

10) Killing  new jobs: One-third of employers cited the uncertainty of  Obamacare’s costs and regulations as the biggest obstacle to hiring more  workers. New taxes could kill tens of thousands of jobs, possibly causing more  layoffs. The employer mandate, once implemented, will be a disincentive for  businesses to hire more than 49 full-time workers if the businesses can’t pay  for health insurance.

11) Jobs  already killed: Layoffs at a south-side Chicago hospital, a  Wisconsin health care company, a Pennsylvania community college and cities in  Ohio and Pennsylvania have already been attributed to Obamacare.

Job seekers line up outside a New York City  unemployment office

12) More  than 1,200 business waivers: HHS acknowledged issuing  businesses more than 1,200 waivers from parts of Obamacare by January 2012.  After that, the department stopped updating the total number of waivers because  of monthly ridicule from the GOP. Instead, HHS stopped accepting applications  for one-year waivers and simply granted or denied waivers through the end of the  year.

13) Higher  Medicare costs: A Heritage Foundation analysis found Obamacare  will force seniors to suffer higher out-of-pocket expenses over the next five  years. Payments will be reduced to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and  home health-care agencies.

14) Seniors  may lose Medicare:  Another Heritage Foundation study  determined, “Many seniors will experience a reduction in their Medicare  Advantage benefits or even a loss of their existing plan.”

15) Americans  reject Obamacare: A CBS News poll found 54 percent of  Americans disapprove of the health-care law. More Americans than ever, 39  percent, want it repealed.

16) Fewer  insurance companies:  Businesses providing health insurance  dropped from 59 percent to 52 percent from 2000 to 2011.

17) Fewer  insurance choices: Two major health care providers, United  Healthcare and Aetna, stopped providing coverage in California because of  Obamacare’s requirements.

18) Basic  health plan delayed: The  administration postponed until after the 2014 election the health program for  low-to-moderate income people who don’t qualify for expanded  Medicaid.

19) Early  retiree program broke: A plan intended to insure early  retirees between ages 55 and 65, and their dependents, until government-run  exchanges are in place quickly ran out of money. HHS stopped accepting new  applications in May 2011. By December 2011, the program had spent its $5 billion  budget and stopped paying any claims – two years before it was  supposed to end.

20) High-risk  pools failing: The administration cut payments to doctors and  hospitals before it ran out of money to fund the pre-existing condition  insurance plan for people with cancer, heart disease and other serious  conditions. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius simply announced “health care  facilities and providers will get paid less” for providing the same  services.

21) Insurance  co-ops failing: The Inspector  General for HHS reported most of the 24 health care cop-ops created under  Obamacare are in danger of running out of money before they even provide health  insurance.

22) Uninsured  children: Major health insurance companies, including Anthem  Blue Cross and Aetna, decided to stop selling new policies for children rather  than comply with the law now forbidding them from rejecting children with  pre-existing medical conditions. Insurers say the law could create large and  unexpected costs.

23) Union  opposition: The leaders of three major U.S. unions (including  the Teamsters), which strongly supported Obamacare, now warn Democratic leaders  that unless the health-care law undergoes major changes, it will “destroy the  very health and well-being of our members along with millions of other  hardworking Americans.” It will also “destroy the foundation of the 40-hour work  week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

24) Patients  expect worsening care: A Rasmussen  poll finds 61 percent of Americans expect health care to get worse under  Obamacare over the next two years.

25) Doctors  expect worsening care: Many doctors fear they will be unable to  continue private practice because of low reimbursement rates from Medicaid and  Medicare and will end up working for a corporation hospital where the profits  are distributed to shareholders. Doctors fear they will be punished in that  system if they spend too much time with a patient or provide too much  treatment.

26) Small  business plan delayed: The administration delayed  implementation of a program designed to provide affordable health insurance to  small businesses, a program the New York Times called “a major selling point for  the health-care legislation.”

27) Losing  the mainstream media: NBC has discovered Obamacare will cause  some people to lose income, others to lose their jobs and some to lose their  insurance. Reporter Lisa Myers said they “spoke to almost 20 small businesses  and other entities around the country. Almost all said because of the new law,  they’d be cutting back hours for some employees” below 30 each week because they  can’t afford to offer the health insurance mandated by Obamacare.

28) Death  panels confirmed: Physician and former DNC Chairman Howard  Dean wrote an editorial in July essentially confirming Sarah Palin’s contention  that Obamcare will have a “death panel.” Palin was excoriated for her assertion  by the administration and the mainstream media. PolitiFact.com even dubbed it  2009′s “Lie of the Year.” But Dean confirmed the Independent Payment Advisory  Board, or IPAB, “is essentially a health-care rationing body” that will “be able  to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to  levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them.” The rationing board will  decide whether or not some patients get potentially life-saving treatments,  which is basically how Palin described “death panel” in her 2009  Facebook post.

29) Growing  Democratic Party opposition: Along with Howard Dean, 22  elected Democrats at the federal level now back the repeal of the Independent  Payment Advisory Board. (The American Medical Association, the American Hospital  Association and the pharmaceutical lobby also support repeal of the IPAB.) Four  House Democrats were scolded by their own party after voting  with Republicans to delay the individual and employer mandates.

30) Medicare  cuts delayed: The administration is spending billions to  postpone cuts to Medicare until after the 2014 election.

31) States  resist Medicaid expansion: Following the Supreme Court’s  ruling allowing states to opt out of Medicaid expansion, 24 states are moving  toward expanding the program and 21  states are not.

32) Insurance  exchanges unwanted: Most states have declined to create their  own insurance exchanges and are letting Washington create a federally run  exchange for them. A  full 27 states are opting for the federal exchange while only 17 states  are creating their own exchanges.

33) Bypassing  Congress to change law: The Obama administration used the IRS  to unilaterally rewrite the health-care law to fix a problem it did not  anticipate, withoutconsulting Congress. The administration had expected all  states to create health-insurance exchanges, but so far only  17 have done so and 27 states have defaulted to the federal exchange.  The problem is, Obamacare authorized tax credits and subsidies for the purchase  of qualifying health insurance plans in state-run exchanges (Section 1311) but  not federal ones (Section 1321). So, in May 2012, the administration simply  had the IRS  issue a rule to authorize tax credits and subsidies in federal  exchanges.

34) Congress  investigates key rule: The chairmen of the House Ways and  Means Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee  announced in January they would investigate and hold hearings on the IRS rule  allowing federal exchanges under Obamacare to issue tax credits and subsidies.  Federal exchanges were not allowed to do so under the Affordable Care Act passed  by Congress and signed into law by the president. But the administration  directed the IRS to unilaterally change the law without involving Congress in  May 2012.

35) Judge  OKs suit against HHS: A federal judge rejected the federal  government’s motion to dismiss Oklahoma v. Sebelius. Oklahoma is challenging the  legality of the IRS regulation giving tax credits to federal exchanges under  Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act passed by Congress and signed into law by the  president allows those tax credits only  to state exchanges, but only 17 states have established such exchanges. So  the administration simply had the IRS  issue a rule in May of 2012 to authorize tax credits and subsidies in  federal exchanges.

36) Critical  deadlines missed: A GAO report says critical deadlines to  create a federal exchange have been missed, suggesting “a potential for  challenges going forward.”

37) Doctors  fleeing and opting out: The Wall Street Journal found  Obamacare is causing fewer doctors to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. The  number of doctors opting out of Medicare has nearly tripled from three years  earlier. Even fewer are accepting new Medicaid patients. A  survey found six in 10 physicians say it is likely many doctors will  retire earlier than planned in the next one to three years. The same percentage  say the practice of medicine is in jeopardy as medical experts lose control of  their clinics and compensation because of Obamacare.

38) Fewer  doctor and hospital choices: The New York times found health  insurance companies are cutting costs by selecting health-care plans that reduce  the number of doctors and hospitals available to customers.

39) HHS  mandate challenged: The highly controversial HHS mandate,  opposed by many (including the Catholic Church) on religious grounds because it  would force employers to provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs,  is tied-up  in the courts and may go to the Supreme Court.

40) Employer  mandate delayed: The mandate requiring employers with 50 or  more employees to provide health coverage has been postponed until after the  2014 election. Unions complain it is most unfair to require  employees – but not employers – to adhere  to Obamacare. Other prominent critics have echoed the accusation of Rep. Steve  King, R-Iowa, that it is unconstitutional for the president to unilaterally  order this change after Obamacare had become law.

41) IRS  “honor” system open to fraud, abuse:  Because the  employer mandate is delayed but not the individual mandate, the government has  no way to determine whether employees of businesses with 50 or more workers are  eligible for subsidies. So, individuals will be on the “honor system” to report  their insurance status to the IRS and whether they are eligible for subsidies.  That leaves the door open for potential widespread fraud and improper subsidy  payments. It also makes taxpayers liable to repay any subsidies and/or tax  credits erroneously granted while the honor system is in effect.

42) Fewer  child-only plans: According to a senate committee report, “As  a result of the new regulations, children who are not eligible for Medicaid, the  State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), or high risk pools have fewer  plans to choose from, and in many states are no longer able to obtain insurance  coverage under child-only plans.”

43) Schools  can’t afford insurance: Schools have already begun cutting  hours to avoid paying insurance for substitute teachers and support staff such  as classroom aides, cafeteria workers and bus drivers. Obamacare requires  employers to offer health coverage to all employees who work an average of 30 or  more hours per week each month, or else pay a fine.

44) Young people  expected to opt out:  Obamacare needs enough healthy people  ages 18-34 to join health insurance exchanges to “cross-subsidize” people who  are older and not as healthy. But a study shows the younger people will have a  financial incentive to instead pay the individual mandate penalty of $95 or one  percent of income. Approximately 3.7 million of those ages 18-34 will be at  least $500 better off if they forgo insurance and pay the penalty. More than 3  million will be $1,000 better off if they go the same route. The study finds  that is a big enough problem to doom the insurance exchanges.

45) Identity  theft risks: The California insurance commissioner warns that  poor screening of those helping people sign up for Obamacare could lead to  identity theft and fraud.

46) Obamacare  con artists: CNBC reports Obamacare is “a dream come true for  rip-off artists.” Scam artists are setting up fake health-care exchanges on the  Internet, enticing victims to enter their personal financial information. Other  scam artists are calling, faxing and emailing people claiming to be with  Medicare or Obamacare, asking for a bank account or Social Security number to  “verify” personal information and to “make sure you get the proper benefits.”  Others have tried to sell fake insurance cards and have even threatened people  with jail if they don’t purchase one. Con artists have also tried to pass  themselves off as Obamacare “navigators” who can help Americans apply for  coverage through an exchange, then ask for money or personal information.

47) Public  option failure: The public option would have provided a  government-run insurance agency to compete with private insurers. The Department  of Health and Human Services admitted in 2011 it would not work; then Congress  repealed the program.

48) Employee  free choice repealed: The plan would have allowed 300,000 employees  to choose their own insurance coverage, using employer-financed vouchers.

49) Obama  exempts Congress and staff: President Obama personally negotiated  an exemption from the health-care law for members of Congress and their staff.  They reportedly will have 75 percent of their health insurance costs paid by the  government. That circumvents an amendment by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, put  into law, and expressly designed, to ensure Congress lives under Obamacare, just  as the rest of the nation must.

50) Federal  workers don’t want Obamacare: According to a survey of 2,500  federal employees and retirees, 92.3 percent do not want to be forced into  Obamacare. Only 2.9 percent want to make the change.

51) Involuntary  home inspections: Critics say these are actually forced  home inspections targeting a wide variety of Americans. They point to a  provision in Obamacare providing hundreds of millions of dollars to make  “evidence-based” inspections of “high-risk populations,” defined as families in  which any of these conditions apply: the mother is under 21; someone is a  tobacco user; children have low student achievement, developmental delays or  disabilities; individuals who are serving or formerly served in the armed  forces. Critics say even homeschoolers may be subject to “intervention” in  “school readiness,” and farm families could face intervention to “prevent child  injuries.” Gun owners may be required to comply with safety inspections.

52) Charitable  hospitals threatened: Charitable hospitals that treat the  uninsured could face hefty fines and even lose their nonprofit status. Hospitals  that devote a minimum amount of their expenses to treat uninsured poor could  face penalties because of a new provision in Section 501 of the Internal Revenue  Code taking effect under Obamacare. Charitable hospitals will face considerable  paperwork and scrutiny from bureaucrats particularly interested in how and why  hospitals will be providing discounted or free care to poor patients.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/52-shocking-reasons-obamacare-cant-work/#v3fF5ceHp5YZ1wp4.99