ObamaCare: Death or Deductible?

“I should have gone to the hospital. [But] I knew there was a big bill waiting for me if I did, and I rolled the dice.” – Dr. Ashish Jha, Harvard University employee

Remember, the entire purpose of health insurance is the ability to receive inexpensive medical attention. In 2017, not even a M.D. can afford the so-called Affordable Care Act (known colloquially as ObamaCare). This big government behemoth—which swallowed 1/6 of the U.S. economy—is so costly, it actually discourages enrollees from seeking care. In George Orwell's dystopian novel “1984”, how is real-life ObamaCare any different than Big Brother's “Ministry of Peace” that actually makes perpetual war?

Harvard heath-policy researcher, Dr. Ashish Jha's heart had raced dangerously for more than an hour. His home remedies were ineffective. Was his condition life threatening tachycardia which can lead to a heart attack? He couldn't be sure. He admitted to his wife that the solution was an emergency room visit. Yet, this doctor feared his potential demise less than the 6,000 deductible that awaited him if he sought treatment. Cowed by the economics, like so many others, he didn't go.

When Dr. Jha signed up for the “lower” premium higher out-of-pocket plan, it had been a kind of personal experiment for him. An academic's quest to better understand how a trade-off—the cost-benefit ratio—influences heath. Unfortunately, his ivory tower scenario resulted in a life and limb gamble no different than Russian roulette. With the clock ticking, what matters more: money or mortality?

Today, that's a concrete question for the Republican-controlled Congress to answer. Why do they continue to dither over repealing ObamaCare? You know, the action they pledged to take six years ago? Dr. Jha is in the same boat as at least 46 million Americans with deductibles of $1,000 a year or more. For context, patient liability has increased a whopping 67 percent in the employer market since 2010. (ObamaCare was signed into law on March 23, 2010.) Furthermore, The Health Policy Brief by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation summarizes Dr. Jha's dilemma rather clinically:

“Increasing plan deductibles has emerged as one potential solution to slowing health care cost growth by reducing use”.

Besides increased medication, Dr. Jha's cardiologist indicates a procedure will likely to cure his infirmity. Despite his health scare, Dr. Jha's decided to roll the dice for yet another year. Although he's clear on the solution, he's still stymied by the gargantuan deductible. Can one blame him if he's waiting on the Republicans' cost-effective ObamaCare replacement?

Twitter: @DavidHunterblog

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Obama's School Fascism

The first entrenched, useless bureaucracy that should be abolished under a potential Trump administration should be the Department of Education. From on high (and in lieu of holding taxpayer money at ransom from the states like crack cocaine), Mr. Obama has decreed that a transgender [one-third of one percent or 0.3% of our nation’s population] student must use any facility—bathroom, locker room or shower—of that person's choice. So that means that a teenager that is physically male can use the private spaces of potentially disrobed females. And what of the rights—and comfort level—of the vast majority of impressionable girls?

Once again, this is big government tyranny of the left promoting the fiction of “inclusion and fairness” while achieving its polar opposite: a blatant anti-biological girl policy. To quote the DOE and DOJ advisory letter: “A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so.” So, the simple solution of allowing a transgender student to, for example, utilize a third option like a individual staff restroom—which incidentally evenly respects all parties—isn't good enough. Though progressives live in a time warp, this is not a modern version of a 60s style Jim Crow discrimination. This is more of Mr. Obama's anti-American radicalism: his fundamental transformation of America. Specifically, this tempest in a teapot is just another excuse for “Christian” Obama to undermine thousands years of Judeo-Christian cultural norms that inform our culture.

Let me be clear: this is not about the individual rights of transgender students. This is about fascist ideologues (read: progressives) promoting Sal Alinsky style conflict: misusing the extensive power of government to force an agenda that expands their own political power. Moreover, this wrongdoing is always done at the expense of freedom. A true-blue U.S. president, Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said: “When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” With today's school edict added to his flurry of ultra-constitutional executive orders, what exactly does that make Mr. Obama?

Heretofore, the running of public schools was a local issue managed by individual states. No more, under our statist overlord masquerading as president. Now, Big Brother Obama's lash runs the gamut: Christian bakers can be forced to bake “gay” cakes, and groveling vendors like Target (reading the Obama tea leaves) institutes the “good” policy of dangerous unisex changing rooms. What's next? NSA surveillance of our bedrooms? Put nothing past these authoritarians. For almost eight years, George Orwell has turned in his grave.

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The corrupt ivory tower of Socialism

If elected leaders were fundamentally altruistic—unselfishly devoted to the empowerment of their fellow man—the theory of collectivism might have promise. The widespread sentiment would have to be consistently along the philosophical lines of JFK's “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” But it's not. The present generation of “Democrats” promote the polar opposite perspective. It is the use of often faceless, bureaucratic government to promote cradle-to-grave economic dependence with themselves, naturally, the elected head of the food chain. That's the maddeningly indifferent DMV experience of running healthcare via Obamacare, except for everything. In other words, this is tyranny of big government á la George Orwell's dystopian “1984.” Make no mistake, Big Brother's name in 2016 is Bernie “90% tax rate” Sanders. And not to leave madame out of the equation, Big Sister is scandal-prone, chronic liar Hillary Clinton.

Speaking of spewing a torrent of lies, during the infamous Benghazi hearings when Hillary Clinton said “What difference, at this point, does it make?” was she clandestinely referring to the phony choice that is the Democrat/Socialist alternative? That is why she and DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz can't explain a difference because—newsflash—there isn't one. If you have two candidates promoting versions of the same statist agenda, the snookered and befuddled voters will choose the genuine article not the one under potential, future federal indictment (read:Server-gate). Despite Mrs. Clinton's often-cited novelty of her own sex as a presidential candidate, that's why Mr. Sanders leads in the polls and will win in New Hampshire. Madeleine Albright says women will go to hell for not voting for Hillary, I assure you the country will if women (or men) do.

It is not that Bernie Sanders is so “hip” to millenials, it is that he a better used car salesman of the complete fallacy of “free stuff.” It's Bernie Sanders as a red-suited pseudo-Santa Claus promising, for example, “free” college tuition, a yearly 70 billion tab to the taxpayer in a country with a 19 trillion dollar debt—and growing by the nanosecond. Unfortunately, this generation is so accustomed to helicopter mommies and daddies paying their bills, it is not a stretch for them to believe Uncle Sam can be gerrymandered into a surrogate fiscal “father.” Politically, this is standard class warfare, the demonized 1 percent “haves” versus the 99 percent “have-nots.” It keeps the masses stirred up, angry and blaming somebody else for their personal woes—and not incidentally electing candy-promising Democrats. Specifically, it's buying votes with other people's money á la Obama's financial redistributionist schemes like the aforementioned Obamacare. But it is even more insidious than that. It is the grievance culture manipulated by the Democratic ruling class to keep themselves perpetually in power that destroys American society like a cancer from within. Witness the last 7 years of the “fundamental transformation of America:” progressives are more than content to rule in a socialistic hell of their own design.

This divisive political wedge is straight out of the Democrat's political playbook. The fact that it is used even more effectively by Mr. Sanders than by Mrs. Clinton, once again, concretely demonstrates that there is no daylight in their politics. Despite publicly cursing capitalists, with a wink-and-a-nod both take Wall Street money. The back-and-forth finger-pointing between the two is just a sham given their famous debate handshake. Let me be clear: the choice boils down to anti-American socialism under the appropriated Democrat brand or conservative, can-do American exceptionalism. Pick a name out of a hat, any of the diverse bench of Republicans will be a vast improvement.

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Democrats' Orwellian Kabuki Theater

In George Orwell's fictional dystopian classic "1984" political leaders (symbolized by "Big Brother") habitually lie, speak out of both sides of their mouths and intend the polar opposite of what they do say.  For example, in Orwell's totalitarian depiction, the Ministry of Peace actually promotes perpetual war.  Its political purpose clandestinely advocates hardship in order to distract the citizenry from learning the nefarious truth about its ruling elite.  Sound familiar? 

In Obama's America of anti-American ruling progressives its real life equivalent is Democrat identity politics—the promotion of superficial differences of race, the economics of class ("You didn't build that, somebody else made that happen") or gender—as wedge issues to keep the populace stirred up, at each other's throats--and thereby distracted.  It is political cover smoke that masks incompetent ideologues whose job-killing, income redistribution, tax-and-deficit spend policies ignite real fires indiscriminately in small towns like Ferguson, MO and (not incidentally) in Democratically-controlled urban centers like Baltimore, MD, Chicago and Detroit.  Remember, locals who have gainful employment and/or otherwise positively contribute to their communities don't burn their own neighborhoods to the ground. 

Sal Alinsky ("There is only the fight...") progressives like Obama and Hillary Clinton incite the mob mentality.  Ferguson and Baltimore are societal fissures manipulated by Democrats along racial lines, but this pattern holds equally true for the Occupy Wall Street movement which enflamed class warfare.  To this end, laughably, the divisive politics of bold faced lies continues by she who would be our next president.  Mrs. Clinton said: “Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs.”  Another divisive, whopper of a distortion by a politician who seeks to lead us in 2016.  Indeed, it is insanity to elect a politician of any stripe who actively deceives the people who elect him or her.    

Democratic leaders facilitate crises and exploit such unfortunate situations like the above to further their anti-American "fundamental transformation of America."  This Orwellian political philosophy specifically benefits them individually via the Party.  That is the point of all of this: for liberals it is better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven.  Specifically, a cogent example: with 93 million able-bodied Americans marginalized, ignored by labor statistics and unable to find full time employment, progressive policies are a cancer that wrecks the joint at home and abroad (read: The Middle East).  As the world literally burns Mr. Obama golfs, wholly disaffected, partying with and living like the millionaire and billionaire "fat cat" bankers he publicly demonizes.  It is all Kabuki Theater.  And it is long overdue for the American public to wake up from their mainstream media-induced stupor.  

Remember a fundamental political axiom: an unhappy populace votes Democrat (versus Reagan's inspiring vision of the United States as a "shining city on a hill.")  At the time, America's primary adversary, the Soviets, respected Reaganism ("Peace through strength") because "the Gipper" actually meant what he said and said what he meant.  By contrast, Mr. Obama is the anti-Reagan: a paper tiger known seemingly by everyone else but himself.  This declawed kitten draws illusionary red lines in the sand and then initiates a "for show," impotent military strategy.  At present, only 1 in 4 missions actually make an airstrike against a target at a rate per The New York Times,' of only 15 airstrikes a day against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.  The U.S. Air Force under Mr. Obama's predecessor George W. Bush launched 800 sorties a day, everyday.  Mr. Obama's latest not-so-excellent adventure in the Middle East is all about his own political optics: appearing to be "tough" and doing "something" so he can absurdly claim that under his leadership: "The United States is the most respected country on earth."  Such a sentiment is the very epitome of the Orwellian.

Ronald Reagan—the real deal as "The Great Communicator"—could school the fork-tongued Mr. Obama on what it is to be a proud American rather than a world-class moral relativist and Western apologist.  Conservatives know that pretty words in teleprompter-read speeches mean nothing without the backup of principle, actions and deeds.  Citizens loyal to American ideal of liberty must see the truth and elect a stalwart champion of the U.S. Constitution despite a heavily biased and sycophantic press that conspires to obscure and ignore continuing Democratic falsehoods.  Double-speak purveyors of "Big Brother" statism—which includes every Democratic presidential candidate—must not be allowed to retain the reins of power in 2016.

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