Now, it may surprise people to know the healthcare industry spends almost three-quarters of a billion dollars on lobbying Washington every year. That’s six times more than the defense industry. Why? Because they want that free money….
That is a great illustration of why we have seen what has happened to medical care in the United States. Rep. Roy was discussing the pressure insurers were exerting to continue the extra Covid-era Obamacare subsidies during the current government shutdown battles.
But this discussion highlights Obamacare’s failures to contain the costs of health insurance. Indeed, under Obamacare, insurance costs exploded except for those “privileged” who qualify for Medicaid.
Obamacare was fascism.
And Gov. Stein just “wiped out” $6.5 BILLION in medical debt for NC residents over the past year.
How did he do it?
Creative use of federal funds, according to his office.
“… “leverage[s] the state’s Medicaid program” to make this debt relief possible, per the release.””
In other words, you and I and every taxpayer in the country contributed to this fund for Stein to buy votes with other people’s money.
https://wlos.com/news/local/over-6-billion-dollars-medical-debt-relief-program-erased-north-carolina-governor-josh-stein-ncdhhs-department-health-human-services-dev-sangvai-announcement-medicaid
The entire medical care environment is corrupted at this point, JayCee, at the hands of the political class. And I am afraid that both parties are culpable. The socialists like Stein are worse; but the Republicans have also had a big part in this overall mess in various ways.
The non ACA passed should never passed.
FROM FORBES:
The U.S. House of Representatives was safely Democratic as a result of the Nov. 4, 2008, elections by a margin of 257 – 199; the Democrats had gained 21 seats from the 2006-07 Congress.
The real interesting ACA political dynamics began during the November 2008 U.S. Senate elections.
Going into the 2008 elections, the Senate consisted of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and two Independents (Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont) who caucused with the Democrats. When the smoke cleared from those elections, the Democrats picked up eight seats to increase their majority to 57-41 (although Democrat Al Franken’s recount victory was not official until July 7). With the two Independents, the Democrats were one vote shy of the supermajority magic number of 60 they needed to ward off any filibuster attempts and move forward with broad healthcare reform legislation.
But on April 28, 2009, the dynamics changed when Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Spector changed parties, giving Senate Democrats that coveted 60th vote.
Now the Democrats had a safe majority in the House and a filibuster-proof supermajority of 60 in the Senate. That scenario lasted only four months before fate intervened. Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts died on August 25, 2009, leaving the Democrats, once again, with 59 seats (counting the two Independents). Exactly one month later, on September 25, Democrat Paul Kirk was appointed interim senator from Massachusetts to serve until the special election set for January 19, 2010 – once again giving the Democrats that 60th vote. But the intrigue was just beginning.
With the supermajority vote safely intact once again, the Senate moved rather quickly to pass the ACA – or ObamaCare – on Christmas Eve 2009 in a 60 – 39 vote (Kentucky Republican Senator Jim Bunning chose not to vote since he was not running for reelection). The House had previously passed a similar, although not identical bill on November 7, 2009, on a 220 – 215 vote. One Republican voted “aye,” and 39 Democrats were against.
There didn’t seem to be an urgent need for Democrats to reconcile both bills immediately, because the Massachusetts special election (scheduled for January 19, 2010) was almost certain to fall to the Democrat, Attorney General Martha Coakley. After all, no Republican had been elected to the U.S. Senate from the Bay State since Edward Brooke in 1972 – 38 years before! But in yet another twist of fate, Republican Scott Brown ran his campaign as the 41st senator against ObamaCare and shocked nearly everyone by winning the special election by 110,000 votes.
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That left House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Obama in a dilemma. Everyone assumed that the Christmas Eve 2009 Senate bill would be tweaked considerably to conform more with the House bill passed two months previously. But now that strategy wouldn’t work, because the Democrats no longer had the 60th vote in the Senate to end debate. What to do? They decided to have the House take up the identical bill that the Senate passed on Christmas Eve. It passed on March 21, 2010, by a 219 – 212 vote. This time, no Republicans came on board, and 34 Democrats voted against. President Obama signed the ACA legislation two days later on March 23.
The rancor has not abated since, as we all know. Republicans invoked Thomas Jefferson’s observation that “great innovations should not be forced on a slender majority – or enacted without broad support.” They cited broad legislative innovations like Social Security and Medicare, both of which enjoyed bipartisan support. They complained that one fewer vote in the Senate or a change of four votes in the House would have been enough to defeat ObamaCare. Democrats responded just as vociferously and passionately that this healthcare reform package was too important and overdue to delay or compromise.
We leave it to the readers to form their own opinions, but we felt that the process was a most interesting one – full of coincidences and intrigue that greatly impact what seems to be a never ending discussion and debate on one of the most significant pieces of legislation that the American public has witnessed in many years. So many have forgotten the ACA’s legislative genesis, with its many twists of fate and maneuvering, that we thought it would be fascinating to share with you as the continuing commentary goes on. And on. And on.
Thanks for the reminder, Fred, of how that all came down. This, of course, was a huge Republican failure– allowing the socialists to get a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
The country and its citizens have definitely paid a huge price because of passing a very bad piece of legislation.
“Obamacare was fascism.”
Well said. “…the healthcare industry spends almost three-quarters of a billion dollars on lobbying Washington every year.” What better proof of the corporatist/fascist nature of the industry? And that doesn’t capture half of the corrupt tentacles binding the healthcare industry and government in their perverse & cancerous marriage.
J. Sobran, I think people only need to observe what is happening around them– the corporatization of medical care and the consolidation that has completely transformed the environment– to understand what Obamacare produced. I guess they had to have the bill passed to see what was in it, as Pelosi said. In many respects, the American people have themselves to blame for electing these folks in a landslide back in 2008.