Obamacare Begins to Hurt Us in the Wallet

By Bill O'Reilly

A couple days ago, I received my new health care premium. I buy my own insurance, and Oxford Health is charging me $2,100 more than it did last year for the same deal, sending my premium north of $20,000 a year for four people.

When I called the company, it pointed to rising medical costs. But upon investigation, that's not what's really going on.

Almost every health insurer in America is raising premiums to cover the anticipated costs of Obamacare because the rules have changed.

For example, this year health companies will have to cover adult children until age 26. They will have to cover all children regardless of pre-existing conditions, and they can't cancel coverage for any reason other than fraud.

So all that cost is being passed to us. It's like a tax. More money out of our wallets for the exact same coverage because government-run health insurance has been passed into law.

Are we all understanding this? And there's more.

The cost of Obamacare will be borne by the taxpayer as the government gives free health insurance to those who don't have much money. In addition, Obamacare will also cost us more in our insurance premiums, so we get hit two ways.

Now some liberal Americans like this. They want the redistribution of income. They want workers and businesses to pay more for health insurance because they know lower income people won't pay more; they will be supplemented by the feds.

But income shifting will never be enough. Even presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs has now arrived at that conclusion.

In an interview with The Hill newspaper, Mr. Gibbs said: "The [left] will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality … They wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president."

And that's true.

But Mr. Gibbs and President Obama continue to swim in liberal waters. On Tuesday, the president told the House he wants another $26 billion to help states keep teachers, cops and others on the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Now, this proposal is fully paid for in part by closing tax loopholes that encourage corporations that ships American jobs overseas, so it will not add to our deficit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

It may not add to our deficit, but it may drive more business out of America, as some companies won't just ship jobs overseas, they'll move overseas entirely.

President Obama does not seem to understand the unintended consequences of higher costs on business and productive workers. Yes, medical costs have been crazy for years, but under Obamacare it looks like things will get worse before they get better.

"Talking Points" believes we are headed to a bad place if the Democrats continue this big government spending craziness and the taxpayer-supported entitlements.

I can afford the $2,000 bucks more I have to pay for my health insurance. Many Americans can't.

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads & Patriots

Comedian Johnny Carson died in 2005, but it was just last May that the bulk of his estate -- $156 million -- was given to a charitable trust.

We don't know why the delay took place, but we do know the money is supposed to help a variety of children's charities and other worthy projects, so Mr. Carson is a patriot.

On the pinhead front, there are crazy people everywhere, and McDonald's is getting more than its share.

In Toledo, Ohio, a woman became enraged at the drive-thru window when she could not get chicken nuggets because the store was serving breakfast. Apparently she didn't want breakfast. She wanted the nuggets.

Police arrested her and she got 60 days in jail, as well as she should. She's a pinhead.