Health care? Shmealth care...(part 2)

It’s has been such a beautiful day today, I hate to ruin it with more talk about health care. But, I have too, because I am a man of the people and there are some of you out there who just don’t read the news or try to be involved. Thus, I bring the news to you with my point of view, which is the correct one (yes, it is). If you followed my blog then you know my comeback to the blogosphere was with a health care analysis on Sunday prior to the vote in Congress. Well, since then the bill was approved and the President already signed it, so my efforts to change the course of this were in vain. If you read my blog on Sunday you know that I am not opposed to some sort of health care reform, just to this bill that was created behind closed doors in a very partisan sort of way. One or two Republicans had substantial input in the thing, but by far there was not true bipartisanship, which was promised by the President during his campaign. I know he can’t make Congress stop “actin’ a fool”, but he could admonish them for not taking his promises and goals to heart. By this time, though, there was nothing he could do but save face and sign something before the right completely tore him a new one. I shared the same dismal view of President Obama as other Conservatives when he was elected (buy a gun quick before he outlaws them) but I promised myself to be optimistic and give him the benefit of a doubt (something more Liberals would not consider for the previous president). Optimism only goes so far, though, and after he blow 800 million dollars on an economic stimulus (remember that) which has done little more than line the pockets of some government agencies, my optimism turned quickly to skepticism. Any student in any college in the United States who payed attention maybe half the time in their macroeconomics class would know throwing money at the situation we were in would not help. But, that is neither here nor there.

Back to the health care bill…it is done. In a grand ceremony that he said he would never do, President Obama signed the health care bill into law today at the White House. To quote the AP:

A beaming President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed a historic $938 billion health care overhaul that guarantees coverage for 32 million uninsured Americans and will touch nearly every citizen's life, presiding over the biggest shift in U.S. domestic policy since the 1960s and capping a divisive, yearlong debate that could define the November elections.

He should be beaming, as should everyone in the government who had a hand in moving this bill through to completion. To quote the Vice President, “This is a big fuckin’ deal.” They have achieved something that no other Democratic controlled government has done in fifty years (created a new welfare class). But, seriously, this is historic and it will be written in books and told by parents for generations. The question is…will history tell this moment to be victorious and a strong move toward a new America, or will it be said that this was the move that crippled the Democrats for another fifty years? Let’s face it, this legislation is unprecedented and no one knows for sure how the effects will be. This is among major social legislation like the creation of social security, Medicare, and the civil rights laws (all Democratic incarnations). So let’s take a bold look at those institutions, shall we? They are predicting that social security will run dry before my generation is able to partake of it. A major debating point in this bill was how to handle Medicare/Medicaid, both of which are struggling to be feasible and sapping the federal budget. Civil rights law, which I personally belief was the most noble and important legislation in American history, has granted freedom of choice and proactive involvement for African Americans in the United States. But, civil rights law has not crushed prejudice that still holds African Americans and indeed all non-Caucasian citizens in the United States back. The law is good, so I’ll give them that one. The point I am making is that the Democrats are one for three in legislation like this. These are great odds in Vegas, but with my tax dollars and my health on the table, I’d be looking for something better. I realize this is an unfair assessment of the situation, but considering we are standing at the end of a long, dark highway at night, I’d just like a little more assurance than the figures the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) gave me.

Since this is going to happen, regardless of how much I might think it is a bad idea, I decided to look into what I might have to look forward to (if Texas doesn’t come up with some ruling that this health care bill is unconstitutional, which along with 30 other states they are trying to do). For those of you who were salivating at the idea of running to the doctor in the next few months for free health care, I hate to burst your bubble. According to CNN:

Within the first year

• Young adults will be able stay on their parents' insurance until their 27th birthday.

• Seniors will get a $250 rebate to help fill the "doughnut hole" in Medicare prescription drug coverage, which falls between the $2,700 initial limit and when catastrophic coverage kicks in at $6,154.

• Insurers will be barred from imposing exclusions on children with pre-existing conditions. Pools will cover those with pre-existing health conditions until health care coverage exchanges are operational.

• Insurers will not be able to rescind policies to avoid paying medical bills when a person becomes ill.

• Lifetime limits on benefits and restrictive annual limits will be prohibited.

• New plans must provide coverage for preventive services without co-pays. All plans must comply by 2018.

• A temporary reinsurance program will help offset costs of coverage for companies that provide early retiree health benefits for those ages 55 to 64.

• New plans will be required to implement an appeals process for coverage determinations and claims.

• Adoption tax credit and assistance exclusion will increase by $1,000. The bill makes the credit refundable and extends it through 2011.

• A 10 percent tax will be imposed on amounts paid for indoor tanning services on or after July 1.

I don’t see my free health care anywhere in there. I don’t qualify to be on my parents’ plan, I’m too old and they are retired (paying their own insurance out of pocket). I’m not a senior or an insurer or an adoptive parent, so no luck there either. I will be in the market for a new plan in the next few years, but new coverage standards don’t have to be in place for eight years. When does the meat of this topic, health insurance for all, happened…2014. Four years before the huddled masses needing government aided insurance can benefit. A lot can happen in four years (like the tenure of a one-term president)…