So says Fox Business News contributor (and erstwhile actor turned stock investor and money manager) Wayne Rogers, on hearing the news that 111 companies have been given health insurance waivers by the Department of Health and Human Services:
According to the HHS website, as of Nov. 1, the Obama Administration has given waivers to 111 organizations (including dozens of labor union locals, health insurance underwriters, and organized employee benefit funds) exempting them from the mandated changes in health insurance coverage that will go into effect January 1, 2011, when the Affordable Care Act is officially the law of the land.
And of course Wayne Rogers is absolutely correct. Handing out these waivers to large corporations and union-affiliated special interests is a direct admission by the Obama Administration that the Affordable Care Act actually makes health insurance more expensive. Has there been a single health insurance provider who has been able to use the Affordable Care Act requirements to expand coverage while reducing the cost of their premiums? I can't think of any offhand.
The truth is that small to medium sized businesses are not expecting to see any real health care "savings." They are not hiring new employees with the money they will "save" on health-related expenses; in fact, they are are scrambling to cut costs and beef up their cash reserves because they are expecting to be saddled with either huge health insurance premium increases, or heavy fines if they can no longer afford to provide the required coverages for their employees.
It's also pretty fair to also assume that most small and medium sized businesses, particularly those just large enough to fall under the Affordable Care Act's rules, will not have the resources to petition the HHS Secretary and be awarded a waiver. They will be stuck paying the increased costs associated with Obamacare, while Big Business and Big Labor get to play by a different set of rules. (Such an arrangement is a classic textbook definition of "crony capitalism".)
And in related news, remember how we were told we HAD to pass Obamacare because millions of Americans had no access to affordable health insurance due to pre-existing conditions? HHS predicted that within the first year of availability, 375,000 Americans with pre-existing conditions would apply for coverage under the new affordable Obamacare health insurance plans that have no exclusions based on pre-existing conditions.
Well, it turns out that HHS was a little off in their prediction ... like by nearly a factor of 50:
Mr. Obama declared [in July 2010] that "uninsured Americans who've been locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition will now be able to enroll in a new national insurance pool where they'll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable health care--some for the very first time in their lives."So far that statement accurately describes a single person in North Dakota. Literally, one person has signed up out of 647,000 state residents. Four people have enrolled in West Virginia. Things are better in Minnesota, where Mr. Obama has rescued 15 out of 5.2 million, and also in Indiana--63 people there. HHS did best among the 24.7 million Texans. Thanks to ObamaCare, 393 of them are now insured.
States had the option of designing their own pre-existing condition insurance with federal dollars in lieu of the HHS plan, and 27 chose to do so. But they haven't had much more success. Combined federal-state enrollment is merely 8,011 nationwide as of November 1, according to HHS.(emphasis added)
If you are a regular WizBang reader, you already know why so few people have signed up for our Glorious New People's Health Insurance Plans -- their catastrophic coverage is lackluster and their cost is anything but "affordable" particularly in today's hard times, with insurance premiums starting anywhere from $200 - $300 per month and topping out at over $700 per month.
Far from being the panacea of economy and efficiency that we were promised, ObamaCare has already revealed itself to be a yet another burdensome, inefficient, and unnecessarily expensive big government scheme. Is there any wonder that 6 out of 10 Americans want the bill either completely overturned or significantly modified?
___________________________________
ADDED: A hat tip to commenter GarandFan, who reminded me of yet another ObamaCare deception -- a huge chunk of the bill's "cost savings" are tied directly to the 1997 Sustainable Growth Rate rules for government expenditures that, if enacted, would result in an immediate 23% across the board cut in payments for medical treatments covered by Medicare.
Of course Congress has been postponing these cuts for the past 13 years, and in the next few weeks they will probably pass a resolution to postpone them again. I'm not arguing that the SGR cuts must be enacted (if they were suddenly put into place the consequences for Medicare and Tricare providers would be disastrous). I am simply saying that without the SGR Medicare cuts, most of ObamaCare's "cost savings" vanish. The Democrats lied to us when they deliberately chose to ignore this fact and claimed that ObamaCare would substantially lower the cost of health care.



Comments (32)
Give me a break. You have a... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Barak2012 | November 14, 2010 6:02 PM | Score: -19 (23 votes cast)
Give me a break. You have a bunch of white people on Faux News crying about a black president. Wayne Rogers is just upset that the KKK wasn't given a waiver.
1. Posted by Barak2012 | November 14, 2010 6:02 PM |
Score: -19 (23 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:02
2. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:02 PM | Score: 8 (10 votes cast)
Just one of the stellar "accomplishments" celebrated by Barry and Nancy!
Any of the usual liberal suspects want to make a bet that the 23% medicare cut will actually take place?
2. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:02 PM |
Score: 8 (10 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:02
3. Posted by Jay Tea | November 14, 2010 6:06 PM | Score: 7 (9 votes cast)
This is rich. The race card being played by someone who can't tell a black major world leader (well, technically, half-black) from a major Jewish world leader.
Anyone know if Ehud Barak is running for anything in 2012?
J.
3. Posted by Jay Tea | November 14, 2010 6:06 PM |
Score: 7 (9 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:06
4. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:10 PM | Score: 7 (9 votes cast)
More 'icing on the cake':
New England Health Care is one of those obtaining a wavier. It's not an insurance company or a for-profit business. It's a "policy institute" dedicated to transforming health care for the benefit of patients and their families.
Guess ObamaCare was a tad too much 'transforming' for them to handle.
4. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:10 PM |
Score: 7 (9 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:10
5. Posted by Jay Tea | November 14, 2010 6:11 PM | Score: 7 (11 votes cast)
Oh, and dipshit: I sincerely hope you have some evidence that Wayne Rogers has ties to the Ku Klux Klan and supports them, or you've just committed libel. And that is grounds for deletion and banning.
(Sorry for horning in, Michael...)
J.
5. Posted by Jay Tea | November 14, 2010 6:11 PM |
Score: 7 (11 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:11
6. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 6:17 PM | Score: 8 (10 votes cast)
Every one of those 111 is complicit in the destruction of our liberties.
obama and the libs will never acknowledge that this is a clear demonstration that their plan fails the American people. At least in obama's case he has the excuse that this is actually exactly what he intended. He wants the destruction of health care and for people to be utterly dependent upon the government. Companies and individuals willbe forced to comply with many other things in order to sustain the waivers they have been granted.
For the rest of the lefties, many of them are too ignorant of reality and see the waivers as companies lacking faith in their new order. They have no idea what they have wrought.
6. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 6:17 PM |
Score: 8 (10 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:17
7. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:21 PM | Score: 6 (8 votes cast)
1. Posted by Barak2012
When ya got nothing, PLAY THE RACE CARD!
This imbecile evidently hasn't gotten the word that 'the race card' won't play any longer.
You want to talk 'race' Barak2012 - go ask Pelosi why Spitball Clyburn has to get to the back of the bus to make room for a white guy by the name of Hoyer.
7. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:21 PM |
Score: 6 (8 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:21
8. Posted by joiybideen2013 | November 14, 2010 6:25 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
You bunch of raceeeests here at wizbang just hate white guys from scranton!!! Which makes u raceeests!!!
!!1eleventy!!11!!
8. Posted by joiybideen2013 | November 14, 2010 6:25 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:25
9. Posted by howcome | November 14, 2010 6:29 PM | Score: 8 (10 votes cast)
Now that Obama has been exposed as an utter amateur and fraud, his dwindling number of die hard supporters will become ever more shrill. You can see it in every thread the trolls decide to troll.
9. Posted by howcome | November 14, 2010 6:29 PM |
Score: 8 (10 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:29
10. Posted by Barak2012 | November 14, 2010 6:43 PM | Score: -13 (17 votes cast)
I guess you never heard about this documented bar altercation in which Wayne Rogers accosted Robert Ryan - a champion of civil rights - for no other reason than being a WWII vet (how un-American). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjPKzBiEB0A Fortunately, the pansy liberal teaches the chest-puffing chickenhawk a lesson.
Of course you didn't hear about it. it wasn't on Faux News.
10. Posted by Barak2012 | November 14, 2010 6:43 PM |
Score: -13 (17 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:43
11. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:45 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
"You can see it in every thread the trolls decide to troll."
It's okay. Barry got a deal from BigPharma for cut-rate prices on Quaalude for all those donating to his re-election campaign.
11. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:45 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:45
12. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 6:54 PM | Score: 9 (9 votes cast)
you know these trolls have nothing because their first argument is the race card.
Listen jerks. Even if we wanted to oppose obama for the most racist reasons imaginable, we are giving you substantive issues to address. Your cowardly playing of the race card is a cop out and the American public see it for what it is. Nobody cares if they are called a racist anymore. It doesn't hold any meaning because you have abused it so much.
We oppose obama on real issues. Always have. You cannot come up with a single cogent argument to support him. You are just more evidence of the emptiness of his policies.
And ironically, by overplaying the race card you lefties have given great cover for real racists. You have wiped out the stigma for real racism and given people cover for discrimination. Hope you're proud of setting race relations back 60 years.
12. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 6:54 PM |
Score: 9 (9 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:54
13. Posted by Barak2012 | November 14, 2010 7:00 PM | Score: -12 (12 votes cast)
Gosh, jim m, I dunno. Why don't you tell me why there are no black people on this Faux News panel? How come it's always white people opposing President Obama at these Tea Bagging Parties?
13. Posted by Barak2012 | November 14, 2010 7:00 PM |
Score: -12 (12 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 19:00
14. Posted by Clay | November 14, 2010 7:07 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
It appears that the best way to get a waiver is to encourage your employees to unionize.
14. Posted by Clay | November 14, 2010 7:07 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 19:07
15. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 7:11 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
one panel does not make a useful sample. Why does MSNBC have no minorities in significant positions?
You want racism? I'll give you the racism list for your side:
* Filibustered the anti-lynching laws in the 20's.
* Filibustered the Civil Rights act.
* Refused the creation of the Civil Rights Commission (took a republican to do that)
*Wrote the Jim Crow laws.
*Opposed desegregation (George Wallace anyone?)
And that doesn't even go back to the civil war where the entire Confederate government was Democrat.
SO why don't you wake up to history and realize that the same party opposes minorities getting access to good education. That their idea of good education is busing black kids so they can be closer to white kids and that will make them smart. It's the same party that made rules for welfare that trapped people on it and opposed the reforms that Clinton signed that got people (mostly minorities) off of it.
It's the same party that loosened the lending laws so minorities were sucked into home loans they couldn't afford and now those minorities are loosing those homes.
It's the same party that has pushed universities to enroll poorly educated minorities so they have good Freshman enrollment data, but those students aren't prepared so the flunk out. If they had gone to a more appropriate school they would have graduated. Most minorities that flunk out of a top university never go back to get their degree.
Dems have been and still are the party of keeping people down and dependent upon government for handouts. They have never wanted minorities to succeed. They had decades in charge and minorities have never benefited. Why is that? Why have they never done anything substantive to help? Why are minorities (specifically blacks) still stuck in the inner cities and in poverty? It's because they have been waiting for the dems to help them. But if the dems help them they know that they won't be needed anymore so they ust make sure to keep them all down on the plantation.
15. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 7:11 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 19:11
16. Posted by 914 | November 14, 2010 7:18 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Anyone using the moniker "Barak2012" has serious mental problems and should seek a physician stat!
We know Barry has failed you Sotero2012 but your delusion is really over the top and pathetically sad.
16. Posted by 914 | November 14, 2010 7:18 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 19:18
17. Posted by Jay Tea | November 14, 2010 7:27 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
OK, I think I've been trolled... from the right.
The YouTube link "Barak2012" posted talking about how bad Wayne Rogers is, is from a movie. A fictional movie.
And in the scene, Rogers gets his ass kicked.
OK, someone confess...
J.
17. Posted by Jay Tea | November 14, 2010 7:27 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 19:27
18. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 7:45 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
"Why don't you tell me why there are no black people on this Faux News panel?"
Guess the lilly-white lineup of Keefums and Company is somehow 'different' for Barak. Must be the "nuance".
Hey Barak! How'd you like how Nancy kicked Spitball Clyburn to the back of the bus to make room for the WHITE guy?
Oh, the 'faux' news thing, and 'tea bagging'. Really getting old hat. Even Alinksy said you had to keep your material fresh.
Funny thing Barak. Remember back when that "Tea Party" thing was 'nothing and of no consequence'? Have you asked any of those 60+ Congressional Reps what they think about it now?
Tune in tomorrow. Looks like Charlie Rangel is going to be 1st up with an ethics trial.
18. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 7:45 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 19:45
19. Posted by DaveD | November 14, 2010 7:52 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
From Barak (above):
"How come it's always white people opposing President Obama at these Tea Bagging Parties?"
In reply:
"I have not experienced the charges of racism that the NAACP is touting," Vernon Parker, an African-American tea party congressional candidate in Arizona, told POLITICO.
Parker, former mayor of Paradise Valley, said that he has never felt out of place at a tea party rally because of the color of his skin."
And
"Tim Scott, a GOP congressional nominee in South Carolina, echoed Parker's sentiments in a statement.
"I believe that the NAACP is making a grave mistake in stereotyping a diverse group of Americans who care deeply about their country and who contribute their time, energy and resources to make a difference," Scott said."
Look Barak, we all here understand this is a very difficult time for you. You realize you voted for a loser and as a coping mechanism you act out against others. This kind of behavior happens in kindergarten all the time. The United States electorate took Obama to the wood shed two weeks ago and this past week the G20 collectively turned a deaf ear to him. Accept it, the whole world is racist - I mean, it would seem your logic would suggest that. It sucks being you today I guess but I assume today is not any different than any other day for you.
19. Posted by DaveD | November 14, 2010 7:52 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 19:52
20. Posted by Rick Caird | November 14, 2010 7:58 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
I am curious why Barak2012 posted a reference to a movie in which Wayne Rogers was an actor as if that proved anything. Barak2012 might just as well have claimed Rogers was anti war because he played Trapper John in MASH.
If this is what Barak2012 has, he has nothing.
20. Posted by Rick Caird | November 14, 2010 7:58 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 19:58
21. Posted by Caesar Augustus | November 14, 2010 8:35 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Democrats are from the government and they're here to help....
21. Posted by Caesar Augustus | November 14, 2010 8:35 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 20:35
22. Posted by Michael Laprarie | November 14, 2010 8:36 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
"Barak2012 posted a reference to a movie in which Wayne Rogers was an actor"
And what a great movie too, Rick. "Odds Against Tomorrow" is a classic 1959 film noir directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Ryan, Harry Belafonte, and Shelley Winters. That bar scene was Wayne Rogers' first on-screen role.
I had forgotten about this little cinematic gem until Barak2012 brought it up. So I'll have to say "thanks".
22. Posted by Michael Laprarie | November 14, 2010 8:36 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 20:36
23. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 8:59 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Not only is obamacare a failure, but so is his economic policy.
By running up our debt and debasing our currency he has turned our nation into an international pariah. He was scorned in an unprecedented way in Seoul this week. No President has ever been treated with such dishonor.
I cannot help but think that it is exactly the way he intended. The worst is yet to come. He has not finished destroying our economy and our freedoms. He hopes that by destroying the economy we might willingly give up our freedoms.
23. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 8:59 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 20:59
24. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 9:58 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
But..but...but....Michael! Nancy ASSURED US that 'this time we're serious, the cuts SHALL BE MADE!'
Interesting piece in the paper today, from a local doctor. Last time she had to go through this charade, she had to obtain a line of credit in order to pay her rent, staff, etc, while the government dallied on postponing the 23% cuts.
She also took exception to Obama's instance on paying based on patient "outcome". She asked how one would judge an oncologist. Seeing as they deal with patients with cancer - a high percentage of which are not going to be restored to health. Should the doctor then game the system and only treat those who's chances of survival are high?
How about those who specialize in geriatrics?
Can you say "Death Panel"?
ObamaCare...designed to fail from Day One.
24. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 9:58 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 21:58
25. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 10:13 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
I can see where they will rate doctors based on cost. Physicians who treat patients above the average cost will be penalized. Those who do it on the cheap will be bonused. There will be no incentive to provide good care, just cheap.
Plus they will be forced to cut office staff and nursing. You can't take an industry growing above the rate of the general economy and turn it to negative growth (wake up libs THAT is what cutting the cost of health care really means) and not cut jobs.
Barry has never done anything to cut the cost of health care. He has only promised to cut what he pays for it. With costs staying the same and payments going down that means fewer jobs and poorer standard of care.
Advice to libs: Die fast. Barry doesn't want to pay for you either.
25. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 10:13 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 22:13
26. Posted by gulubbadubW | November 15, 2010 12:02 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Aw cut him some slack..
He is not popular in indonesia the country that cast him forth from the womb. It has now driven him out with a volcano.
He will not be re-selected.
Everything he touches fails.
He has to live with Mooch l and those ears.
26. Posted by gulubbadubW | November 15, 2010 12:02 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 15, 2010 00:02
27. Posted by Jim Addison | November 15, 2010 12:05 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Obviously, Obama's supporters are of substandard intelligence, else they wouldn't have supported him in the first place.
But even stupid people should have had that cold slap in the face of reality by now, so those who persist in supporting the buffoon-in-chief loser are either part of the small core of radical America-hating leftists, or else just zombies, ambling aimlessly towards polling places to feed on the flesh of the living.
27. Posted by Jim Addison | November 15, 2010 12:05 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on November 15, 2010 00:05
28. Posted by Evil Otto | November 15, 2010 6:08 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
OK, I think I've been trolled... from the right.
It's gotten to the point where the parodies are impossible to tell from the real leftists like Galoob.
28. Posted by Evil Otto | November 15, 2010 6:08 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on November 15, 2010 06:08
29. Posted by Barak2012 | November 15, 2010 10:19 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It's gotten to the point where the parodies are impossible to tell from the real leftists like Galoob.
Exactly the point.
29. Posted by Barak2012 | November 15, 2010 10:19 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 15, 2010 10:19
30. Posted by Brian Richard Allen | November 15, 2010 10:56 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
.... 111 waivers offers a prima facie admission that [Obamacare] is a failure ....
Rubbish.
That it's a failure has always been a New York City to a single brick lay down misère.
One hundred and eleven waivers offers prima facie evidence Buraq Hussayn bin Buraq Hussayn bin Hussayn Ubama presides over a Gangster Government.
30. Posted by Brian Richard Allen | November 15, 2010 10:56 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 15, 2010 10:56
31. Posted by Jay Tea | November 15, 2010 10:57 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I have NO idea who's posting as "Barak2012," but I have to doff my hat to you. You got me, and you got me GOOD.
J.
31. Posted by Jay Tea | November 15, 2010 10:57 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 15, 2010 10:57
32. Posted by BlueNight | November 15, 2010 12:06 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I finally figured it out. Obamacare is an attempt to bankrupt Ford.
GM was bankrupted last time by their overwhelming healthcare obligations. This time they're backed by FedGov, and won't go under unless FedGov says so. Ford is proudly a private company, currently playing the part of Rearden Steelworks.
32. Posted by BlueNight | November 15, 2010 12:06 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 15, 2010 12:06