ObamaCare Panacea or Parasite

We are witnessing the bankruptcy of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs in front of our eyes. Medicare will not be able to pay for all its responsibilities by 2016 and each year it gets worse. So it is effectively bankrupt. Medicaid is funded out of the general funds and that is funded through borrowing. So it is effectively bankrupt now. 

ObamaCare was designed to be the first step to merging all the health insurance programs into one single payer program. It was thought by those that support this idea that a universal system would provide the mechanism to fund all the systems. 

Why they thought that providing and instituting a universal system would be able to fix and fund the health insurance needs for all is unclear. We see in the Social Security system that a universal program does not make it any more viable. SS is going bankrupt as well and the only means to work it is to limit benefits and increase taxes. By doing both of these, limit benefits and increase taxes, it will give a bit more longevity to the program but it will still fall in on itself. The system is designed with a Ponzi Scheme as its inspiration. The first and early participants receive benefits, many without having to put in, while the later participants pay. The problem is that as time goes on the number of payers start going down compared to the number of collectors. This is why this type of scheme is referred to as a pyramid scheme. 

What we see in these universal and hopefully to be universal social welfare programs is ostensibly fascism. I understand people cringe when the term fascism is used because of its immoral history. But let us look at it from a governing perspective without the immoral baggage, though I could assert that the governing system in itself is immoral as well.

Fascism is where government takes control of some and perhaps eventually all industries. It is thought that if supply and demand from the free market is removed and it is centrally controlled, ie the government, then the ebb and flow, boom and bust of the economy can be stabilized. Since every time it has been tried it has failed to achieve the desired result one can only wonder what would be different this time around. It has been suggested that the attempts of the past was corrupted by people that were not as smart and or those that were, were corrupt themselves. Therefore past attempts failed because they had not been done correctly and was never given a chance.

So what is this new and smarter way that is to make it different this time around? First it is the complete control of the market by those that think they are smarter. It is thought that if the insurance companies are regulated as to what products they can sell and eventually at what price along with universal participation all will eventually work out. By utilizing the insurance industry and not the government all the good things that come from it are attributed to the government while the failures are attributed to the insurance companies. The built in failures promotes people to petition to their representatives for corrections and this helps the representatives in their re-elections. With so many future disasters coming this is pure gold for the Congress.  When companies are not able to remain viable because of the heavy handed interference they will go broke and leave the market and eventually leaving one or two which should be able to remain afloat due to a monopoly like environment. If they all fail so be it then the government will have the monopoly.

That theory should have had some success at first just as all the social programs had success at the beginning of their implementation. They feed off of the hosts to start with. The insurance companies are currently in strong financial condition. They can afford to take losses for a while before complete failure sets in, especially if the losses can be limited through high premiums and deductibles of which we see now and why the companies are co-operating. Soon the price controls are implemented and the company’s co-operation will wane. It is hoped that a good decade or two will go by before the whole system is a complete mess by which time it is too late to return to a free market system.

The result of all this will be lowering the quality and quantity of health care in the country as a whole over time. It is hoped that it is a slow decline like in the frog in the pot being brought to a slow boil instead of being thrown into a boiling pot. Why? Because regardless of how much control is exerted the market still reacts. Doctors and nurses and medical advancement will dwindle. The law of supply demand will bring about a low quality black market which will further erode the system. You cannot get around the laws of the market.

The ACA was expected to roll out and follow this narrative. Unfortunately for its supporters and for the public at large it has failed to follow the narrative. We have more people uninsured today than before we started and are on the cusp of having tens of millions more losing their insurance. We have much higher premiums and deductibles for those that still maintain coverage. With bankruptcy in the future for millions that will try and get needed medical care outside of the ACA.

Those are just the highlights of the failures that are in your face obvious with the insurance side of things. The other notable effects had been the Constitutionality of the law. It was obvious, even to its supporters, that the law is Un-Constitutional but with utter surprise we saw the Chief Justice of SOTUS vote with the Socialists. We have seen the law attack people of faith to implement their own faith driven beliefs on society as well as destroy need jobs for the economy.

Yes, the ACA has been and will continue to be an utter failure with a handful of successes trotted out. If there are things that can be done through legislation to make things better then that can be discussed and worked on. The Nation and Virginia cannot wait for that to happen only a complete repeal of the ACA can offer any help right now.