Heads up ( pretty cool expression for a 71 year old ) all you lucky patients out there.
Are you scheduling a hip replacement? A new knee? How about a pacemaker? Better get a price quote in December. Better yet, I suggest you offer to prepay, because starting Jan. 1, medical devise makers will be paying a new, hefty 2.3 percent tax to help pay for Obamacare. This will, of course, be just added to the rising cost of healthcare.
Where did this come from? Four years ago, Judy and I were sitting excitedly in the Congressional House chambers, as the final roll-call of congressmen voted on The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We and a thousand other doctors had come to Washington DC that week, to personally meet with Drs. Coburn, Price and the other Doctor Senators and Congressmen, to see for ourselves what this new government-run healthcare system was all about.
We watched in disbelief, as arms were twisted, payoffs were made and incredibly, truths were distorted. The “Louisiana Purchase” changed Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu’s mind and she then voted for the bill. The “cornhusker compromise “ did the same for Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Arkansas Senator Blanch Lincoln easily fell in line after necessary “assurances” were made.
“An honest politician is one who, when he’s bought, stays bought”.
Simon Cameron, Americanpolitician, approx 1880
Isn’t it amazing or maybe it was just a coincidence that all three of these elected officials decided not to seek reelection after this vote. Nothing like a great private-sector job waiting for you after you fall in line.
When all was said and done, the Obamacare proponent’s won that vote by claiming that 45 million uninsured Americans needed and deserved free healthcare. The Bureau Of Labor Statistics has subsequently reduced the 45 million to a more accurate 30 million. But, “free” healthcare? That’s still debatable.
Four years ago, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the first 10-year cost of this program was $875 billio dollars. One half of that cost would be funded by removing approximately 500 billion dollars of fraud and waste from Medicare and the other half would be paid by higher taxes and new fees.
But don’t be worried. My liberal friends, like Steve and even my own son, have both assured me that they are more than willing to step right up to the plate and pay the healthcare costs of those uninsured. Don’t forget, these uninsured people are not welfare patients. Welfare patients are covered by Medicaid, an entitlement we are already paying for.
The most recent CBO 10-year estimate for the cost of Obamacare is now twice the initial cost! It now tops 1.87 trillion dollars and is rising rapidly. I really must thank and respect all you Progressives out there who are getting out your checkbooks to support your favorite entitlement.
Where is this Medicare fraud and waste coming from? More important, if there is so much of this out there:
Why didn’t we remove it years ago? And why isn’t this newly found money used to replace the funds borrowed from the bankrupt Social Security Trust Fund instead of using it to pay for another new program? That would at least insure that future retirees benefits would actually be there for them.
Now on to the new taxes. Ever notice that anytime Washington raises our taxes or new ones are proposed, they are introduced very slowly, hoping that we won’t notice? Mark down the date, “October 2013” on your calendar. That’s when all Americans must have health insurance or face a penalty? Only then will the total cost of this new program hit each state. That’s why so many states, including New Jersey, are opting out.
Last Tuesday, Jan. 1, the first of these new taxes and fee-increases actually began. Besides the new tax on medical devises :
1- Many retires , who now have their drug benefits paid by their employers, will not have this option anymore. This benefit will not be offered because on Jan. 1, your employer’s tax subsidy will end.
2- Your Medicare payroll taxes are going up this week. The problem with this is that your employer, not knowing about your spouses income, can only deduct your amount from your pay check. You will owe the difference in April.
3- Those of you who have a “flexible spending account “ in which you were permitted to put unlimited, pre-taxed money away for future medical expenses, will not be able to continue to do this anymore because there is now a $2,500 cap (previously it was unlimited). Why bother to prepare for future expenses when medical care is free?
The list goes on and on. But, you get the point.
Dr. Stephen Morris
North Hills
