What a day ObamaCare is having. A quick scan of today’s headlines brings us three remarkable stories about the plucky little law that could. First up, how to sell ObamaCare to the American people who still don’t like it, because we’re just not smart enough to know what’s best for us:
Several former White House staffers have found a new way to promote Obamacare: They’re spending millions of dollars in secret corporate and union cash, and they’re harnessing grass-roots tactics to some of the biggest names in the health care industry.
Organizing for Action, the successor to President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and Enroll America, a group led by two former Obama staffers that features several insurance company bigwigs on its board, are planning to unleash the same grass-roots mobilization and sophisticated micro-targeting tactics seen in the 2012 campaign.
What are they so afraid of? The whole house of cards collapsing, just as soon as people catch on that the penalties tax for not following the mandate tax are much smaller than buying insurance.
How much smaller? Way smaller:
Bronze will be the lowest tier health-insurance plan available under Obamacare–after Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Under the law, the penalty for not buying health insurance is supposed to be capped at either the annual average Bronze premium, 2.5 percent of taxable income, or $2,085.00 per family in 2016.
That’s from a CNS report on just how much the IRS estimates insurance will cost a family of five as soon as 2016:
In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year.
That’s the Bronze plan. The cheapskate plan. How much will Silver and Gold cost? Well, if you have to ask…
But why bother asking? You can pay $20,000 up front, or shell out a couple grand at the end of the year. And if you get sick? Insurers can no longer deny you for having a preexisting condition, even if it’s something you were diagnosed with, say, earlier this morning.
If you think there might be a few people willing to game that system, my buddy John Nolte is way out ahead of you.
Even millionaires and billionaires are having trouble scraping up enough cash to pay for ObamaCare’s many taxes and fees, as evidenced by Smith & Nephew:
A global medical technology company has laid off nearly 100 employees at its offices in Tennessee and Massachusetts and is blaming the layoffs on the medical device tax tied to ObamaCare.
Perhaps what is needed here is an even bigger effort to sell us stupid Americans on the marvels of ObamaCare. Here’s what the Department of Health and Human Services and Death Panels and Taxes is doing to pitch in:
HHS officials recently announced that they are “rebranding” one of Obamacare’s major components; henceforth they will replace the word exchange with marketplace.
I feel better already! And a good thing, too, since I hate to think of how long I’d have to wait to see my doctor.
Related:
And that is a $6,000 jump in the estimated cost of the Bronze plan from only a year ago when Kaiser put out an infographic that showed whether or not you had to pay the penalty. They had the estimate at $14,000 at the time. If the estimate jumps by $6,000 in a year even before the plans are in effect, how much is it REALLY going to cost once it is in effect?
Don’t ask impertinent questions, comrade. We’re moving forward together.
How Obamacare will price many families out of health care entirely
And you’re right – it isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.
Forward to a brave new world, er possibly nightmare. Just think all of the states need to go live with their Mandateplace (oh Marketplace)in just a few months. It shouldn’t be too hard – just 4 buttons Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Black. Black is where you choose the penalty, oops tax, opt for black market care or go to Canada for health care. Then the questionaire is name address political party, bank account number, and 401K account.
I have a question – Is it Hotel California – it is easy to sign up but you can never leave. (Well you may leave in a box).
Wait, what about the flint tier? And wood tier and the mud tier? I think we are going to need them.
Yeah, and what about the Zinc tier? the Pot Metal tier? the Plug Nickel tier?
(I ran the numbers and if my household gives up all meat forever, sells the car and rents the garage to another family … well, we might be able to afford the Plug Nickel plan. Assuming of course the economy continues to “recover” at its current pace …)
Bronze will be the lowest tier health-insurance plan available under Obamacare–after Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Under the law, the penalty for not buying health insurance is supposed to be capped at either the annual average Bronze premium, 2.5 percent of taxable income, or $2,085.00 per family in 2016.
This reminds me of that Honda commercial where a couple is buying a car from a salesman that is located next door to the Honda dealership. They start peppering him with questions such as, “Does this car include GPS?” The dealer responds, “If you want GPS you have to get the Cubic Zirconia package.” They next ask the dealer, “Does this include side airbags?” The dealer responds, “If you want that you have to upgrade to the Platinum package.” The husband asks, “Why would I buy a car from you when the Honday Odyssey include all of those things standard?” Instead of answering the husband’s question the dealer scoffs, “Do you know how selfish you sound?” The couple’s response is to simply walk away.
Unfortunately, we can’t walk away from Obamacare, but rest assured if you want the best coverage (LOL) you’re going to have to get the Platinum package and it’s going to cost you more than what you’re already paying for healthcare now. And if you raise a peep about this, supporters of Obamacare will not address your concerns but instead will call you selfish and greedy for daring to want something else entirely.
This, my friends, is called “progress”.
One of the complaints in the Declaration of Independence was that the King had created absurd numbers of new offices and sent their officers forth to harass the people and eat out their sustenance through excessive taxation . If that’s not what this is, then what do we call it?
I know!!! Let’s call it Free Healthcare!
Ok, I can be a little slow sometimes but has anyone clicked on the link from CNS and tried to read the IRS examples?? It’s a mess! I couldn’t make heads or tail out of them..
Example 4. Family with some members enrolled in government sponsored
minimum essential coverage. The facts are the same as Example 3, except W and X
enroll in CHIP coverage on January 1, 2016. Under paragraph (e)(4)(ii)(B), U, V, W,
and X are members of U and V’s nonexempt family for 2016. Therefore, the annual
premium for the applicable plan is the same as in Example 3 ($20,000). The maximum
credit allowable under section 36B is also the same as in Example 3 ($9,055). Under
paragraph (e)(4)(ii)(A) of this section, the required contribution is $10,945. Under
paragraph (e)(1) of this section, U and V lack affordable coverage for 2016 because
their required contribution ($10,945) exceeds 8 percent of their household income
($4,000).
If I’m reading this right the family has to come with $11K and we’re on the hook for the rest,correct? and they get a tax credit because it costs them too much money, correct? This is the simplest example they have, the others made my head ache. We’re screwed..
As bad as this is, I have listened to and read statements complaining that people believe this is supposed to be an insurance program. The actual intentions are much more intrusive as in a basis to detail how people ought to live. The idea being pushed is that the government should be in charge of assuring quality of life and that includes both physical wellbeing and mental wellbeing.
Obamacare gets to one and the poorly understood if known about at all Common Core gets at mental wellbeing.
The Nordic countries really are being used as the model. In fact they have rebranded their model getting ready to have it adopted elsewhere. Lessening the pressure on them to adjust. Instead of welfare states, they have decided to be known as Human Resource States.
We get to go along too being told by bureaucrats what we can do or not. Perhaps we should start thinking of the 21st as feudalism with ICT.
Or as they will come to be known as,The Barely Human Resource States.
Lets see –its cheaper to go without insurance and simply pay the tax/penalty. What a convenient source of revenue for the government and for many working people this means that they won’t have any health insurance at all. In the meantime, all the indigent welfare types and illegal aliens whom the the taxpayers have to foot the medical bills for now will still get it for free.
That’s progress all right.
Human Resource States! I love it, Robin. Think of Dilbert’s Human Resource manager in charge of your life.
This is a great column, Green. But it takes more than a mere 2000 pages to ruin American health care. Last I heard, the Obama minions have churned out 13,000 pages of rules already. Nancy Pelosi was right, we had to pass the bill to find out what’s in it. In fact, we’ll never finally know what’s in it, as the rules will be revised every year. As Mark Steyn says, it’s not that it can’t be reformed; it will be, endlessly.
The “tell” that the so called health insutrance plan is a disaster? Simple. Look who’s pushing it. Organizing for America is Acorn re-branded. Same players different uniform.
This is a good dynamic since it (like most everything Obama does) will push reform of private health insurance; which is long overdue. Hey … it’s uncomfortable but it provides an incentive for us all to get our proverbial hind-ends in gear!!!
Quit complaining.
Isn’t this sort of a moot point, since most people don’t make 50,000 dollars a year, and will enroll in medicaid or other government program?
Also, if I understand the law correctly, you cannot be thrown in jail for not paying for insurance or the penalty. I’m told that the most the IRS can do is take you to court, which is probably not feasible.
Let’s not fool ourselves – plenty of people will not pay for insurance AND not pay the penalty.
I for one will certainly not pay the penalty nor buy insurance!
Since we are repeating all of the Failed polices of the past. I would not be shocked to see this used again as something new. Just speculation on my behalf!
Whip Inflation Now (WIN) was an attempt to spur a grassroots movement to combat inflation, by encouraging personal savings and disciplined spending habits in combination with public measures, urged by U.S. President Gerald Ford.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_inflation_now
This is nothing more than a long, slow painful slog to single payer insurance. Just like the liberals wanted all along.
So they’re driving private companies out of the business with insane regulations & governmental predatory pricing, then they’re calling the result a “marketplace”. The word “Orwellian” seems appropriate.
One more reason Romney lost and the Repubs lost ground. There are hundreds of hours of Obama video where he is provably, demonstrably lying or giving away his agenda, (“Under my plan, electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket…”) The Republican establishment never made use of any of it. The easiest take-down in political history and the Republicans looked the other way and just layed themselves down to get ‘done.’
The good news is that life is quickly becoming so miserable under obamunism that poor health and an early death seems like a blessing.