The Barack Obama Health Bribery Act of 2009 (HR 3590)

Republicans, independents and many liberals are outraged at the way Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Obama have turned ObamaCare (HR 3590) into The Barack Obama Health Bribery Act of 2009.

Over the weekend, I used about eight hours and 5,500 words to summarize and comment on most sections of the 383-page amendment to the bill. The amendment passed last night (Mountain Time) 60-40 along party lines. Every Democrat was bought off and every Republican opposed the bill on one principle or another.

Not only were all of the Democrat senators bribed with 

favors for their states and supporters, most large illness advocacy groups and providers like doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, hospitals, long-term care providers, psychiatric hospitals and medical group practices also were bought off in one way or another.

Patients, of course would be the losers if the bill passed. Their premiums would be increased via hidden taxes on insurers and suppliers of medical devices. They would pay higher income taxes to the federal and all but Nebraska's state governments to cover expanded Medicaid programs.

Insurers pretty much would get what they asked for—a disaster. They've helped write the onerous state laws and regulations that have let them abuse patients and payers for decades, and this bill punishes them for their greed and overall incompetence. Every health insurer's CEO should be fired for helping get this bill passed.

The bill is full of deceptions. The biggest one probably is the promise to contain the rate of increase in health insurance premiums with what amount to government price controls. What the price controls would do is force health insurers to stop offering unprofitable plans. They'd only offer the most costly plans allowed under the law that let them collect their 2% to 4% profit margins. This means people who are buying more affordable high deductible catastrophic insurance—real insurance—would be forced to buy the "Cadillac" qualified plans required by the bill. They would see their premiums soar 40% to 60% in a year or two.

Another deception in the amendment passed last night is the section that pretends to legalize the selling of national health insurance plans across state lines. There probably are only three or four insurers that could do this, Aetna (AET), Wellpoint (WLP), Cigna (CI) and UnitedHealth (UNH). But the law says they would have to cover 60% of the states in the first year and all of them within about five years. This probably would take a tremendous investment that would offer only small profit-making opportunities under ObamaCare. Consumers would love it. Investors wouldn't.

A third big deception is the claim the bill would provide health insurance to 30 million Americans who don't have it. At best, it would cover the 6 million to 10 million Americans who can't afford health insurance and never will be able to. The rest of the coverage is for free-riders who self insure and game the system and probably would continue to free ride and game the system under ObamaCare. The bill is written to encourage continued free riding and shifting their health insurance costs to others.

Illegal immigrants supposedly aren't covered under the bill, but Obama is pushing an amnesty bill that probably would get them covered sooner than later, too. This, of course, would make the bill even more costly to taxpayers.

In any case, read my summary. If you do, you'll know more about the amendment than most of the senators who voted on it do, and you'll know more than 99.9% of voters do. You'll see how the game is played in the Senate.

Links:

Summary, comments on 383-page amendment to ObamaCare (HR 3590). By Donald E. L. Johnson.

Deep in health bill, very specific beneficiares. By Robert Pear.

Change Nobody Believes In

A bill so reckless that it has to be rammed through on a partisan vote on Christmas eve. WSJ editorial.

Health bill money for hospital sought by Dodd.

ObamaCare hurts small businesses, construction companies.

AMA supports Senate bill.

Republicans Take Aim at Deal-Making; GOP Calls It a Sign of Bad Policy on Health, but Reid Counters: 'It's the Art of Compromise'

ObamaCare's Longshoremen Rules; Cost-control and taxes for some, but not for others.

On health-care bill, Democratic senators are in states of denial, by Dana Milbank.

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