(Reuters) – Nearly 59 million Americans went without health insurance coverage for at least part of 2010, many of them with conditions or diseases that needed treatment, federal health officials said on Tuesday.
They said 4 million more Americans went without insurance in the first part of 2010 than during the same time in 2008.
The findings have implications for U.S. healthcare reform efforts. A bill passed in March promises to get health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans who currently lack coverage.
1.) The law expands entitlement spending by over $1 TRILLION in order to “cover” $30 Million more people. What will that do to State Budgets? We only need to look at history to find out. Cases in point?
2.) It adds $500 Billion in new tax increases at a time in our nation’s history when a RECORD number of American’s pay NO INCOME TAXES! And if you believe the lie told by President Obama that your taxes will NOT increase if you make less than $200,000 as an Individual or $250,000 as a Married couple, you need to know the TRUTH!
Speaking of NEW taxes, if you are a Small Business owner. Here’s what’s coming for you thanks to Obamacare:
President Obama guaranteedAmericans that after health reform became law they could keep their insurance plans and their doctors. It’s clear that this promise cannot be kept. Insurers and physicians are already reshaping their businesses as a result of Mr. Obama’s plan.
The health-reform law caps how much insurers can spend on expenses and take for profits. Starting next year, health plans will have a regulated “floor” on their medical-loss ratios, which is the amount of revenue they spend on medical claims. Insurers can only spend 20% of their premiums on running their plans if they offer policies directly to consumers or to small employers. The spending cap is 15% for policies sold to large employers.
President Obama’s first State of the Union address. (PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images)
After the jump, read the full text of President Obama’s first State of the Union address as prepared for delivery:
Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members ofCongress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:
Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For two hundred and twenty years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They have done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they have done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.
It’s tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable – that America was always destined to succeed. But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt. When the market crashed on Black Tuesday and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain. These were times that tested the courage of our convictions, and the strength of our union. And despite all our divisions and disagreements; our hesitations and our fears; America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, and one people.
Again, we are tested. And again, we must answer history’s call.
One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt. Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression. So we acted – immediately and aggressively. And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed.
But the devastation remains. One in ten Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. For those who had already known poverty, life has become that much harder.
This recession has also compounded the burdens that America’s families have been dealing with for decades – the burden of working harder and longer for less; of being unable to save enough to retire or help kids with college.
So I know the anxieties that are out there right now. They’re not new. These struggles are the reason I ran for President. These struggles are what I’ve witnessed for years in places like Elkhart, Indiana and Galesburg, Illinois. I hear about them in the letters that I read each night. The toughest to read are those written by children – asking why they have to move from their home, or when their mom or dad will be able to go back to work.
The estimate is actually 505 to 800 billion but why not go with the higher number when your “perspective” is to support government reform. Anyway:
The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday.
The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, the report from Robert Kelley, vice president of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters, found.
“America’s healthcare system is indeed hemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial,” the report reads.
“The bad news is that an estimated $700 billion is wasted annually. That’s one-third of the nation’s healthcare bill,” Kelley said in a statement.
So now we have 3 numbers to go with telling anyone with an ounce of sense that they’re really not sure how much waste there is. But for the sake of argument, let’s stick with the 800 billion. Obviously they intend too because this is the sop they’re going to throw out there and claim it will “pay” for their “reform”.
Thank you for your support of the Free Our Health Care NOW! petition and your support of the National Center for Policy Analysis!
JOIN THE ‘LIGHT OF DAY CAMPAIGN’!During the last several months of health care debate, Congressional proponents of government-run health care have repeatedly compromised the ability of the legislature and the general public to read and comprehend proposed legislation. On several occasions, they have changed legislation during the middle of the night and submitted proposals without providing enough time to photocopy-much less read-the legislation.
In fact, the Senate Finance Committee is up to their old tricks again. With Capitol Hill abuzz with a new report on the cost of health care, the Senate Finance Committee met on October 13th topass legislation which had not yet been written. Not a draft, an outline or an outline of a draft was anywhere in the room when a majority of the Senate Finance Committee will raise their hand in support of a concept, the details to be filled in later and sent to the floor for a vote.
To guard Congress and the American public against a fast-tracked, middle-of-the-night version of ObamaCare, Senate Republicans, joined by eightDemocratic colleagues, have proposed a three-day waiting period on all health care legislation so that it can be ‘exposed to the light of day.’ For most Americans, a three-day waiting period seems like a reasonable idea. Many public policy makers support a three-day waiting period for the purchase of firearms, why not a similar requirement for $900,000,000,000 in health care spending?
Thanks to the Free Our Health Care NOW! Action Army, supporting the Light of Day Campaign is as easy as 1-2-3. Just click here, register and tell Congress that you support a three day waiting period for health care legislation. You can make a difference today. Tell them you want the 3 day waiting period!
I’m privileged to have many insightful friends from a various walks of life, backgrounds and occupations. A small group of us get together each day in a private chat to share our lives, thoughts, experience and concerns. Sometimes an insightful little bit of writing shows up that stands out and I share it here for the rest of you to ponder. This one is especially pertinent at this time.
From John O’Connell IV:
I believe that we live in a time when many people have discovered that life is arbitrary and unfair. For a large group of us this was not news…..we were born into that mind set. We all knew friends and family who came upon hard times through no fault of their own. We helped, they worked and struggled….some never recovered but most came back and other than a small circle of people no one knew about it. Charity was refused as a matter of pride except in the extreme and it would never occur to us to want government aid…that was was for widows and orphans not for us.
We always looked at the wealthy as opportunity for work, people you shook your head at in amused disbelief or as inspiration for what was possible with hard work and luck.
It’s ironical that Obama spoke the truth during his campaign for the presidency and once elected does not. No one listened then but many are listening now.
Obama told Americans what he believed both by the people with whom he associated and the policies he would follow as president. No one listened then but many are listening now.
First to be exposed was his association with the country-hating Reverend Wright on whose knee Obama sat for twenty years. Then we learned that Obama began his run for election at the home of left wing Weatherman terrorist William Ayres and his co-conspirator wife Bernadine Dohrn. [Note: Obama himself said you could judge a person by the company he keeps.]
As for his political beliefs, Obama famously admitted he would “spread the wealth” if elected. He also said he would enact Health Care “Reform.” The only thing he didn’t expressly say was that he would expand government and government control over our lives. Nonetheless this was also apparent to anyone who listened carefully, but once again, too many didn’t listen.
Obama started by instituting government takeovers of the banking system and the auto industry then focused attention on the one-sixth of the economy, the health care system. When the president and his far left Democrat followers ran into trouble enacting this part of the agenda, our president turned to his one sure thing to garner public support, his teleprompter.
Let’s take a look at his oration from Mount Capital; the famous Obama speech on the imperative need for Obamacare.
I’ve traveled the world from Oslo to Osaka to see how other developed democracies provide health care. Instead of dismissing these models as “socialist,” we could adapt their solutions to fix our problems. To do that, we first have to dispel a few myths about health care abroad:
Not so. Some countries, such as Britain, New Zealand and Cuba, do provide health care in government hospitals, with the government paying the bills. Others — for instance, Canada and Taiwan — rely on private-sector providers, paid for by government-run insurance. But many wealthy countries — including Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland — provide universal coverage using private doctors, private hospitals and private insurance plans.
By CALVIN WOODWARD and ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writers –Thu Sep 10, 3:15 am ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama used only-in-Washington accounting Wednesday when he promised to overhaul the nation’s health care system without adding “one dime” to the deficit. By conventional arithmetic, Democratic plans would drive up the deficit by billions of dollars.
The president’s speech to Congress contained a variety of oversimplifications and omissions in laying out what he wants to do about health insurance.
A look at some of Obama’s claims and how they square with the facts or the fuller story:
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OBAMA: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future. Period.”
THE FACTS: Though there’s no final plan yet, the White House and congressional Democrats already have shown they’re ready to skirt the no-new-deficits pledge.
House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Officesaid would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years. But Democrats and Obama administration officials claimed the bill actually was deficit-neutral. They said they simply didn’t have to count $245 billion of it — the cost of adjusting Medicare reimbursement rates so physicians don’t face big annual pay cuts.
