juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Notes from an Engineer

I am a consulting engineer and make between $60,000 and $125,000 per year, depending on how hard I work and whether or not there are work projects out there for me.

My girlfriend is 61 and makes about $18,000 per year, working as a part-time mail clerk.

For me, making $60,000 a year, under ObamaCare, the cheapest, lowest grade policy I can buy, which also happens to impose a $5,000 deductible, costs $482 per month.

For my girlfriend, the same exact policy, same deductible, costs $1 per month. That's right, $1 per month. I'm not making this up.


Don't believe me? Just go to http://www.coveredca.gov/ , the ObamaCare website for California and enter the parameters I've mentioned above and see for yourself. By the way, my zip code is 93940. You'll need to enter that.

So OK, clearly ObamaCare is a scheme that involves putting the cost burden of healthcare onto the middle and upper-income wage earners. But there's a lot more to it. Stick with me.

And before I make my next points, I'd like you to think about something:

I live in Monterey County, in Central California. We have a large land mass but just 426,000 residents - about the population of Colorado Springs or the city of Omaha.

But we do have a large Hispanic population, including a large number of i*****l a***ns, and to serve this group we have Natividad Medical Center, a massive, Federally subsidized county medical complex that takes up an area about one-third the size of the Chrysler Corporation automobile assembly plant in Belvedere, Illinois (see Google Earth View). Natividad has state-of-the-art operating rooms, Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, fully equipped, 24 hour emergency room, and much more. If you have no insurance, if you've been in a drive-by shooting or have overdosed on crack cocaine, this is where you go. And it's essentially free, because almost everyone who ends up in the ER is uninsured.


Last year, 2,735 babies were born at Natividad. 32% of these were born to out-of-wedlock teenage mothers, 93% of which were Hispanic. Less than 20% could demonstrate proof of citizenship, and 71% listed their native language as Spanish. Of these 876 births, only 40 were covered under [any kind of] private health insurance. The taxpayers paid for the other 836. And in case you were wondering about the entire population - all 2,735 births - less than 24% involved insured coverage or even partial payment on behalf of the patient to the hospital in exchange for services. Keep this in mind as we move forward.

Now consider this:

If I want to upgrade my policy to a low-deductible premium policy, such as what I had with my last employer, my cost is $886 per month. But my girlfriend can upgrade her policy to the very same level, for just $4 per month. That's right, $4 per month. $48 per year for a zero-deductible, premium healthcare policy - the kind of thing you get when you work at IBM (except of course, IBM employees pay an average of $170 per month out of pocket for their coverage).

I mean, it's bad enough that I will be forced to subsidize the ObamaCare scheme in the first place. But even if I agreed with the basic scheme, which of course I do not, I would never agree to subsidize premium policies. If I have to pay $482 a month for a budget policy, I sure as hell do not want the guy I'm subsidizing to get a better policy, for less that 1% of what I have to fork out each month for a low-end policy.

Why must I pay $482 per month for something the other guy gets for a dollar? And why should the other guy get to buy an $886 policy for $4 a month? Think about this: I have to pay $10,632 a year for the same thing that the other guy can get for $48. $10,000 of net income is 60 days of full time work as an engineer. $48 is something I could pay for collecting aluminum cans and plastic bottles, one day a month.

Are you with me on this? Are you starting to get an idea what ObamaCare is really about?

ObamaCare is not about dealing with inequities in the healthcare system. That's just the cover story.

The real story is that it is a massive, political power grab. Do you think anyone who can insure himself with a premium policy for $4 a month will v**e for anyone but the political party that provides him such a deal? ObamaCare is about enabling, subsidizing, and expanding the Left's political power base, at taxpayer expense. Why would I v**e for anyone but a Democrat if I can have babies for $4 a month? For that matter, why would I go to college or strive for a better job or income if it means I have to pay real money for healthcare coverage? Heck, why study engineering when I can be a schlep for $20K per year and buy a new F-150 with all the money I'm saving?


And think about those $4-a-month babies - think in terms of propagation models. Think of just how many babies will be born to irresponsible, under-educated mothers. Will we get a new crop of brain surgeons and particle physicists from the dollar baby club, or will we need more cops, criminal courts and prisons? One thing you can be certain of: At $4 a month, they'll multiply, and multiply, and multiply.

Obama Care:
It's all about political power.

Valid Opinion Loc: Right Here

My wife and I are on Medicare now. (Thank God) When I retired in 2006 and not yet eligible for Medicare, I had to go on Cobra from my employer. The policy was through Aetna in Virginia. Our premium for a medium grade policy ($2000 deductible) was over $900 month. In the 3 years from the time I retired until Medicare began, our premium rose to over $1100 month. Both of us were in excellent health. It was outrageous.
Health insurance has been and still is a terrible burden on families. The Republicans won't even let Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices and now generics are increasing by as much as 3000%. The system was and is a mess.

Robert Graybeal Loc: Myrtle Beach

EXACTLY right.

idaholover Loc: Nampa ID

By controlling 20% of the nations economy! You just nailed it! Big Time!

SBW

Drug prices are increasing directly because of obamacare and Republicans had exactly nothing to do with it.

Valid Opinion Loc: Right Here

Source ?

SBW

Source?

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

On the drugs being increased or the Republicans having been left out of the discussion?

On the drugs: have you ever seen anything that the government has gotten their dirty little paws on that hasn't gone up in cost. When the drug companies are excited about obamacare, it isn't because they are glad the program is working, its because they can make more money!
On the Republicans; not one v**ed for it and it was passed by so called elected politicians who didn't even read the bill. Now, tell me just how you can justify something like that? Come on, give me a break!

SBW

What an uninformed i***t you are. The Republicans had no input, sway or influence in or over the so called healthcare bill. Not ONE Republican v**ed for it and Republicans were not ALLOWED to have any input. Closed door meeting put on by the democrats that Republicans were not even allow to attend. There is not one word in the so called healthcare bill that can be attributed to the Republicans. Not one.

This is really funny. You left wing kooks now, time after time when you find something in obamacare you do not like or something that is having a bad result for you personally then all of a sudden it is the Republicans fault. That is not only funny, it is sick. You better get used to what you asked for. If you think drugs are expensive now wait until they are "free".

Valid Opinion Loc: Right Here

Does SBW stand for Stupid Bigoted Wimp ?

Valid Opinion Loc: Right Here

Are you aware that the Republicans have forbidden Medicare from negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies ?

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/republicans-wont-let-government-negotiate-drug-prices

SBW

Cannot handle the t***h can you little girl? Whiny little girl.
Spin it any way you want little girl, the fact is you are getting what you asked for. Now live with it, little girl.

Valid Opinion Loc: Right Here

What t***h ? You have not offered any content or backed up anything you have said with proof or facts. You are a real pro at calling names and yelling "liar" while you sit in your dirty tee shirt inside your 8X24 trailer. You need to go outside and clean up some of the junk cars and rusty broken appliances from your overgrown front yard.

SBW

SBW

I see what is going on with you whiny little girl. The first of the month is this week. That welfare check shows up in your mailbox and you will be flush for a few days! Right, little girl?