Becker & Associates

Prior to obamacare, Americans had less expensive,more comprehensive healthcare.  Doctors and their patients decided what was best for us, now we have an avalanche of new vocabulary and hidden protocol in the entire system. It is not the Insurance companies, it is the Government protocol deciding who gets what test, what treatment, what medication, etc.  Why do I think obamacare has taken over?

1) MANDATES - For the first time ever, the federal government is forcing citizens to use their own money to purchase a private product. The fact that the Supreme Court says the penalty for not complying is a tax, does not diminish this shocking assertion of federal authority. We are now and for the rest of our lives, obligated to purchase an expensive health insurance product with the IRS ready and able to levy fines as punishment if we do not comply.

2) The "Death Panel" - Call it what you want, the truth is now the GOVERNMENT DECIDES.  The government determines what health care benefits are “essential” — not us, not our doctors, but government bureaucrats.  Remember the US Preventive Care Association (formed by Doctors!)?  Now we have the "US Preventive Care Task Force", a government bureaucracy.  They have redesigned all the old physician recommendations to a very lesser form.  We women used to get a PAP test every year, folks over 50 a colonoscopy every year, etc, etc.  Everything that was recomended annually is now recomended every THREE YEARS or more.  Colonoscopies are now every TEN years.  Do your own research on this.

3) Doctors and hospitals now face an avalanche of new regulations and reporting rules to make sure they are providing medical services that fit the government’s definition of “quality care.”  Ask your Dr....They seem to be like robots these days, tired, over worked, drowned in paperwork and eerily, strangely "compliant".  They remind me of "Stepford" Docs.  They comply to stay in business.  If you're lucky enough to have an older American Dr, you can usually get them to tell you the truth of things but it's still a nudge.

4) Over 150 NEW BUREAUCRACIES have been created (What about putting that money into folks health care?).  We now have new boards, commissions, and programs that will rule over virtually every corner of the health care sector.

5) The states are being treated like contractors to the federal government, not sovereign entities empowered by the Constitution. They are ordered to set up exchanges OR have the federal government do it for them.

6) EMPLOYER MANDATE Any employer with more than 50 employees must provide government-decreed health insurance to its workers — or face HUGE financial penalties. See my blog on penalties under the Employer groups of 100+ and 50 and over.

7) Nearly 80 million people did not have the option of keeping the coverage they had or the Dr.s they had, according to results of a survey from McKinsey & Company.  Many of them were forced into the government-run health insurance exchanges. If your income is below a certain number, the government decides whether you get an exchange plan or get booted into Medicaid. 

8-) ObamaCare dramatically expands the number of people whose health coverage will be paid for entirely or in part by taxpayers, giving the government more power to decide which medical services millions more people will receive — or not.  It has changed preventive care dramatically, too bad we can't see the changes to other care like heart, cancer, etc.

9) In order to dole out taxpayer subsidies for insurance, the government and employers are going to need to know a lot more about us. An estimated 16,500 more IRS agents will be needed to check on our income and any changes to family status and our compliance and the bill includes these IRS agents!  There is so much spending on everything BUT healthcare here,one has to wonder what's really the agenda. 

10) Obamacare creates the infrastructure for public plans by requiring a federal agency to sponsor at least two national health plans. If private plans are crushed by ObamaCare’s regulations or simply turned into government contractors, these government plans could dominate the market, leading to the government-run health care system that the majority of Americans deplore. I believe this was the agenda all along. We have more folks on public assistance now than ever before, more bureaucracies than ever before and less privacy than ever before.  I actually see us going in this direction now.

You decide.  The only hope we have is going to be at the polls in 2016.  It is doubtful that those receiving huge subsidies (some families over $2000.00 per month!) will vote for the candidiate who wants to get rid of obamacare no matter how unconstitutional.  We've come to the day where Americans receive "McMedicine" (cookie cutter protocol doesn't fit everyone the same) decided on by a panel of government bureaucrats instead of their own doctors.  The saddest part, most doctors aren't even fighting this, rather just leaving the profession.  Look at your provider books for any carrier you want, they look more like phone books from another country.  It is my feeling that we've outsourced American's healthcare, but instead of sending us out, they've imported the "cheap labor" to be providers for your healthcare. 

What I have posted here are facts, not just my opinion.  I've been selling insurance for over 30 years and remember when folks got the treatment their doctors recommended....period!   I remember being able to sell someone under 40 a good little catastrophic policy for around or under $100.mo and if under 30 maybe around $60. per month just prior to obamacare. 

I remember the Dr. getting a preauthorization for an MRI with no questions asked, today many times the case, the patient must try Physical therapy or other less expensive treatment for 6 weeks before getting an MRI (a horrible cancer or condition could be brerwing inside while we wait and follow this new protocol). 

Pharmacy...I remember if the Dr. wrote the prescription, you went and got it filled.  Today, if it's an expensive drug, they use what's called "STEP THERAPY".  This means try you on one or two or maybe more cheaper drugs first for a six week preiod before getting the drug you are used to having. It reminds me of how lab rats are treated. For some, this is tantamount to torture.  I think we can all expect the future to bring "change", but "hope" seems to be fading.