ObamaCare: Setting the Stage for its Own Repeal

This article also appears in the December issue of The Constitutionalist Today. 

Officially known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” America is quickly learning that ObamaCare is nothing its title touts it to be, and it is effectually setting its own stage for repeal.

 ObamaCare is the most controversial and least popular piece of legislation ever passed in America’s history. It is 2,000 pages of law that even Congress didn’t read before cramming and jamming it into the formerly free-flowing conduit that was the greatest health care market available in the world.

America Spoke at the Voting Booth

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told us she must pass the bill so we could read it. Not only are we reading the bill, but we’re feeling it as well. Which is why the American people clearly “shellacked” both the President and Speaker Pelosi’s powers on election day 2010.  Here we are eight months after its passage, and national polling clearly indicates that ObamaCare drove freedom-loving Americans to the voting booth to oust an astonishing 64 Democrat House Congressional seats in favor of Republicans.

Is This Affordably Protecting Patients?

As written, ObamaCare incrementally takes effect and isn’t completely in place until 2018. Yet even now it’s defying its title, “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”  In contrast, it is neither “protecting” patients, nor is it “affordable” for America. Here, just a handful of ObamaCare side effects, to date.

• This summer, the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 12-1 to recommend rescinding approval of the world’s best-selling cancer drug Avastin for use on women with advanced breast cancer. Once rescinded, insurance companies are likely to stop paying for the drug. The FDA panel cited “effectiveness,” in its decision, in spite of the drug’s proven track record in extending breast cancer patients’ quality of life. However, off record, it has been claimed that the real reason was “cost effectiveness” in the face of ObamaCare reforms requiring insurance coverage for all.  

• In September, major health insurance companies Wellpoint and Coventry One announced they will no longer offer child-only insurance plans in four states, including Colorado. Why?  Because ObamaCare requires these same plans to start accepting children with pre-existing conditions, exploding costs and rendering the coverage unprofitable. This ends up forcing parents to cover children under higher-priced family plans.

• Also in September, McDonalds announced that it may no longer offer mini-med health insurance to 30,000 employees. ObamaCare requires that a minimum percentage of premiums be spent on all employee health care benefits. McDonald’s stated that to continue offering its mini-med insurance plan would be “economically prohibitive.”       

• In October, major health insurance providers Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Connecticut raised rates as much as 47% to comply with new and broader ObamaCare requirements, specifically for insurance in the individual market (versus employer-sponsored group plans). This is only the first rate hike of its kind, it’s a short matter of time before we see it spread to other states.    

• In November, President Obama himself spoke against the burdensome 1099 business tax reporting requirement within ObamaCare. It requires that businesses file 1099s on any transaction over $600. The requirement is unrelated to health care, but is designed to fund increasing health care costs for the uninsured. The President says now that the 1099 revision “appears to be too burdensome for small businesses.” 

It is clear from the few examples cited here that ObamaCare is already dismantling the greatest health care market in the world. Its effects are increasing health and insurance costs to consumers and business. Ironically and I believe intentionally, it is positioning thousands to be uninsured which paves the way for a single-payer, 100% government-controlled system. Worst of all, it is denying Americans the best health care and treatment ever available in human history. In its fullest form, ObamaCare denies individual Americans life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

ObamaCare Must be Repealed

ObamaCare must be repealed, but how? Until the 2012 elections, a sitting President holds the veto pen, and the US Senate is still controlled by Democrats. However, the people just handed conservatives an historical US House majority takeover. If that majority will harness its power wisely for the next two years, funding can be blocked for the 16,000 new IRS agents and nearly 160 arms of bureaucratic government required to enforce it, and ObamaCare can be temporarily stalled.

Consider that even 3 weeks after the election, Rasmussen polls reveal that a whopping 58% of Americans still favor repealing ObamaCare. As more of its freedom-choking realities are exposed and experienced, freedom is actually poised to make more gains in future elections.

If the new House can stand firm and defund ObamaCare, and if the current liberty movement we’re experiencing will stay engaged, we have a very real opportunity to retain the House, regain the Senate, and take back the Executive in 2012. If those opportunities are seized and realized, the stage will be set and the door will be opened for full repeal in 2013.

Michelle Morin is Mom4Freedom, a conservative blogger, speaker, and patriot for freedom and America’s founding principles.  Join her for freedom updates at www.Mom4Freedom.com.