This morning, liberal political strategist and CNN contributor Donna Brazile posted an update to Twitter that has had conservatives laughing for hours. She complained:
What’s on your menu? Just got off the phone with my health care provider asking them to explain why my premium jumped up. No good answer!
— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) February 27, 2013
The possibility that a major reform of health care might have had something to do with Brazile’s suddenly increased premiums was outside the realm of possibility. After hours of conservative lampooning, Brazile followed up on her tweet:
Why are your health insurance premiums higher? Price gauging, not #Obamacare. My provider told me it was because of my age. More to come.
— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) February 27, 2013
Without realizing it, Brazile has further vindicated conservative critics of the president’s signature legislation with this clarification. In January Avik Roy, a healthcare expert at Forbes, explained how and why Obamacare would drive up out-of-pocket premium costs, citing the industry’s own experts:
Obamacare’s supporters frequently complain about the usage of the term “Obamacare,” arguing that the “Affordable Care Act” is a more objective, neutral way to describe our new health law. But neutral observers are finding that the President’s health law will make health insurance less affordable.
Despite Brazile’s denials that the cost increase had anything to do with Obamacare, the mere fact that there was an increase at all shows the flawed planning and execution of the bill called the “Affordable Care Act” which she, just hours earlier, praised as a cause she was proud to have fought for. For Brazile, providing access to all was important. However, as inconvenient as it might be, Brazile’s higher premiums are the price to pay for this flawed legislation, which has priced an untold number of Americans out of the market. Not that Brazile or any other liberals will come to the realization, but this is what happens when a company is forced to provide products like breast pumps and birth control for free. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and today Donna Brazile got a look at the bill.
I like the 'health care provider'. That's all most people are going to see once O'care fully kicks in. n nNo worries about the looming doctor shortage, because the plan is is to transfer the lion's share of health care 'provision' to non medical doctor 'providers'. n nIt's already begun, and there is tremendous variability in regards to how much supervision these 'providers' get from MD's, ranging from some to none, depending on how strapped for cash the 'health care organization' is, and how coerced the generally salaried, terminatable without cause MD's are to agree to provide a fig leaf of supervision. n nUp till now, the talk is about what O'care will do to costs. Wait till you see what it does to quality. n nEnjoy.
"There’s no such thing as a free lunch…." n nWhich is why Obamacare requires everyone to carry insurance so they can't shift their healthcare costs to the public. When Romney was pushing Obamneycare, he called those without insurance "free riders."
Then why, before ObamaCare, were the premiums less expensive?
Hillel, Romney is not in the WH. Requiring everyone to purchase insurance has not done what you assumed and demand it do. Do you listen to yourself?
"Why are your health insurance premiums higher? Price gauging, not #Obamacare. My provider told me it was because of my age. More to come." nMore to come indeed; just wait a few years till the death panel decides La Brazile is too old to be worth the cost of providing her with whatever treatment she requires. Will she have enough political pull to get a special treatment or be left by the side of the road along with the rest of Americans?
She may or may not have pull, ModerateGuy, but what she certainly will have is excuse after excuse that fails to recognize the debacle that is O-care.
hehehe n ndid she blame Bush? n n
When a a few million people expect to get free healthcare or healthcare at below market rates, whatever you think of the market, it's going to be paid for by someone else.
Nobody could have seen this coming! Buy all your liberal friends mirrors for their birthday with "The cause of our fiscal crises" stenciled on them.
price gauging? what's that–using a gauge to tell you something about prices? n nplease. she means price gouging. n nsheesh. n nas Yogi Berra (or someone) once said, "can't ANYBODY here play this game?"
Casey Stengel?
Amazing how the GOPers are worried about the cost of healthcare when they forbade Medicare to bargain over prescription drugs and medical devices, thus costing American taxpayers billions of dollars.
Why negotiate? Shouldn't the government just tell drug companies, doctors, hospitals, and medical device makers how much they should charge? They didn't build that, right? Without roads, who could get to the hospital? Without police, ambulances would always be getting robbed. Without fireman, hospital would always be burning down. Give me a good reason why the government shouldn't set prices for all medical procedures and devices across the board. I think that at a certain point, doctors have made enough money–let's not forget to dictate their salaries–no?
How much are the outrageous prices for medical care related to the ambulance-chasing, litigation obsessed Lefty lawyers and the equally ignorant juries who award astronomic settlements that drive up the cost of INSURANCE premiums?
Does she know that her premiums are determined by an insurance company (the payer), not by her health care provider (ie, her doctor, nurse, hospital, etc)? She sounds like a health care illiterate.
Yep, fully qualified CNN political “strategist” (where “strategist” = propagandist) who cannot process facts and data. n nShe is like the bimbo who, looking at her son’s dismal report card, cannot understand that he is just a dumb as she is, and why that might be
The higher her healthcare bill premium the better. That may be the wake-up call for starting to think that the democrat demagogues rushed to create a monster, rejecting any discussion with the republicans. Pelosi and her ilks after stealing millions through 'congressional inside trading" will have no problem since they have their FREE own health insurance and she can help her friends to get exemptions.
The day after the election, ensuring that Obamacare would go into effect, my health insurance provider raised my rate by 23% despite laws in effect in my state requiring that these changes had to take place during an “open enrollment” period.
Can anyone seriously claim this increase wasn’t connected to Obamacare and the election result?