Did anyone actually read the Affordable Health Care Act? (Known as the Serviceman's Relief Act right up until it passed) Did Congress find a way to tax the air?

Good things in bill:

ü
Cannot deny you for pre-existing conditions
(group health insurance plans – such as employer plans – have been prohibited
from even asking about your health and have been unable to deny pre-existing
conditions for about 25 years now).

ü
Allows you to keep your children on your policy
until they are 26 (most health insurance policies already offered a rider (not
most employer plans) where you could keep your kids on your policy so long as
they resided with you and many already kept them on your policy (including
employer plans) so long as they were in school)

ü
Health insurance exchanges/government subsidized
insurance

ü
Expands Medicaid for low-income households
(requirement to states struck down by Supreme Court)

ü
Requires health insurance companies to cover
maternity, preventative services (most companies already covered preventative
services – just good business sense - all offered riders for maternity
benefits)

ü
Requires health insurance companies, depending
on the type, to use 70% - 80% of premiums collected on health care claims

Bad things in bill:

ü
Allows prescription drug companies to withhold
generic drugs for an additional three years.

ü
Decreases payment amounts to primary care
physicians on most preventative services

ü
Decreases medicare spending (eliminates premium
plans)

ü
Increases the deficit with unfunded subsidized
insurance

ü
Increased cost of covering pre-existing
conditions is legitimate for increasing premium cost (meaning insurance
companies can charge a lot more to everyone)

ü
Forces people to pay for insurance for their
kids until they are 26 (even if they are able to get their own insurance)

ü
Forces persons who do not need certain services
(like men with maternity care) to pay for those services

ü
Requires states to provide increased Medicaid
benefits unfunded (struck down by SC)

ü
Allows for rationed care

ü
Increased health care costs for employers
(exponential – the increase is a lot higher % for employers of more than 50,
and even higher % for employers of more than 100)

ü
Increases taxes on the middle class

ü
Health care exchange requirements the same as
minimum medicare

ü
Increased requirements for specialized care (think
HMO on steroids)

ü
Increased government spending in oversight and
implementation (new agencies +)

ü
Decreased care (non-physician boards to
determine standards)

Right now, the average cost of private full coverage health
insurance for a family of four is between $950 - $1200 per month (depending on
the state/insurance company). If the
health care bill cuts that in half, say to $475.00 per month, more people will
go uninsured. Sounds crazy, but the
reason is that employers can opt into the exchanges rather than take the hit on
the increased cost, so there will be less people getting insurance through
their jobs and more people paying outright.

Let’s look at how that could possibly be.

Family of 4 – two working adults, two children in grade
school; mom and dad’s jobs have dropped
the insurance through their company to contribute to the exchange, so mom and
dad have to get insurance through the exchange – since they can’t afford the
$950.00 from a private insurer outside the exchange.

Together mom and dad make 100,000.000 per year. This seems a nice cozy sum. Now that they have to pay for their own
insurance, though, it doesn’t stretch so far.
Maybe we’ll have to get rid of Fido and Fitz, eat Ramen a lot more
often, and get rid of the tv…..

Income tax, social security & medicare – 17,004.00

Housing (mortgage or rent @ $1,350.00/mo) – 16,200.00

Food ($10/day per person) – 14,080.00

Consumables (TP, soap, etc.) – 5,000.00

Electricity (all-electric, including heat/cool, moderate
climate) – 3,000.00

Vehicle (insurance & gas only) – 6,000.00

Car payments (1 new/used (cheap) car) – 4,200.00

Clothing (at $100/mo per person averaged; includes shoes,
socks, etc.) – 4,800.00

Movie or dinner once per month – 2,400.00

Internet/Phone/Cell/TV (assuming super-bundle) – 3,600.00

Water/garbage/sewer – 3,000.00

School supplies – 1,000.00

Laundry/Dry Cleaning – 1,200.00

Pet supplies (1 dog, 1 cat, food & flea medicine) – 780.00

Before/after school care (and day camp for summer) – 13,000.00

Total out: $95,264.00

Total remaining: $4,736.00

Private insurance: $11,400.00

Exchange insurance:
$5,700.00

Okay, yeah, so Fido and Fritz are toast, and Ramen is not so
bad, right? Oh, but what about
co-pays? Okay, so we drop tv, too. Need internet so we can work from home and
the kids can do their homework, need cell phones because the school needs to
get hold of us. What else can we
drop??????