After the Supreme Court approved ObamaCare Thursday, the president gave a speech. I think it needs decoding.
Obama: Today's decision was a victory for people all over this country.
It’s a victory for central planners, not “people.” One thing I’ve learned in 42 years of reporting is that centrally planned bureaucracy kills innovation, increases costs and undercuts personal liberty.
If you’re one of the more than 250 million Americans who already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance.
Unless your insurance company, like Principal Financial, leaves the business, because you’ve made it bad business. Then people lose their policy.
This law will only make it more secure and more affordable.
It's impossible to do both.
Because of the Affordable Care Act, young adults under the age of 26 are able to stay under their parent’s health care plans…
That will make insurance cost more.
…A provision that’s already helped 6 million young Americans.
And made insurance cost more.
And because of the Affordable Care Act, seniors receive a discount on their prescription drugs – a discount that’s already saved more than 5 million seniors on Medicare about 600 dollars each.
Even rich seniors get a handout. According to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., ObamaCare will cost taxpayers $2.6 trillion in the next 10 years.
These provisions provide common-sense protections for middle class families, and they enjoy broad popular support.
True, because people like "free" stuff.
If you’re one of the 30 million Americans who don't yet have health insurance, starting in 2014 this law will offer you an array of quality, affordable, private health insurance plans to choose from.
There were already plenty of options for them, including Medicare and charity. But we in government are only happy if it's all centrally planned. Now, you’ll get to “choose” from a whole “array” of mandated expensive and mediocre healthcare “options.”
They won't be able to charge you more just because you’re a woman.
That’s right. They’ll just charge everybody more in higher premiums and higher taxes. But that’s nuts! Women visit doctors more than men. They consume more health care.
Not charging women more for health insurance is like not charging Charlie Sheen more for property insurance. People who incur higher costs pay higher insurance rates or insurance doesn’t work.
If you’re sick, you’ll finally have the same chance to get quality, affordable health care as everyone else.
Quality? Affordable? Without a market, how would we know? Quality and innovation come from market competition. That pretty much stops with central planning. Canadians get “free” healthcare, and they have the privilege of waiting 23 hours to see someone at the ER, as opposed to the 4 hours Americans have to endure.
And if you can’t afford the premiums, you’ll receive a credit that helps pay for it.
And you will be taxed for that. The bill raises premiums by up to 50% -- that’s $1,500 for individuals, and $3,300 for families -- according to a study by Blue Cross Blue Shield (BSBA).
Today, the Supreme Court also upheld the principle that people who can afford health insurance should take the responsibility to buy health insurance.
Should take responsibility? No. The Supreme Court ruled that you must buy insurance because the Feds say so. That’s not “can take responsibility,” that’s force.
…If you ask insurance companies to cover people with preexisting conditions, but don't require people who can afford it to buy their own insurance, some folks might wait until they're sick to buy the care they need…
We still will. The penalties cost less than insurance. This will drive private insurance companies out of business. Then we will be stuck with government care. Maybe that was the intention all along.
In fact, this idea has enjoyed support from members of both parties, including the current Republican nominee for president.
True. Although he imposed it only on one state. We have 50. Experiments at the state level at least allow comparison. And some freedom. Also, when ObamaCare passed, there was not "support from both parties." No Republicans voted for the law and Mitt Romney promises to repeal the law if he gets elected.
…I didn't do this because it was good politics. I did it because I believed it was good for the country.
I believe you. Statists think that big intrusive complex government micromanagement is a good thing.They think that government can solve our healthcare problems. I say, “No They Can’t.”
And now is the time to keep our focus on the most urgent challenge of our time: putting people back to work, paying down our debt and building an economy where people can have confidence that if they work hard, they can get ahead.
But ObamaCare works against all those things. It discourages those who do work from hiring people. It makes it harder to pay down our debt. This study predicts that the healthcare law will add $530 Billion to the national debt in just 10 years.
…when we look back five years from now, or 10 years from now, or 20 years from now, we'll be better off because we had the courage to pass this law and keep moving forward.
We’ll be better off if we have the sense to repeal it. Government doesn’t know best. Central planning, federal mandates and government controls are a fatal conceit of an arrogant political class. Mr. President, at Harvard Law School, you were taught that you can manage life though paper and procedure. But that is a lie.
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