“Waiving” Bye-Bye to Obamacare

“We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it.”[1] These words were uttered by Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House in March 2009, in reference to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more commonly known as “Obamacare.”  Have you had a chance to read all 2074 pages of the Senate bill now that it has been passed into law?[2] Neither have I.

I have, however, read in various news articles that there are a large number of waivers being granted to opt-out of Obamacare; and that a disproportionate number of these waivers are going to unions.[3] Waivers enable the health plans of labor unions, businesses and other groups to avoid having to comply with the new cumbersome and no doubt, costly regulations (remember the 2074 pages of law!).

One recent article stated that just since June of 2011 labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers where as only 69,813 private sector workers received waivers during that same time period.[4]  Since this was promoted as such a wonderful law for the American people, why then are so many groups trying to get permission to opt out of it and why are so many waivers going to unions? Is it because unions collectively bargain for their healthcare benefits and they know their current plans are superior to what the government will provide?

In other articles, the costs of this massive takeover of the health insurance industry by the Federal Government are forcing businesses to either downsize or to quit offering health benefits to their employee’s altogether (unless of course they can get a waiver).

Stryker Corporation, a global medical device company based in Michigan, recently announced that it will be forced to lay off 5% of it’s work force in order to offset a 2.3% Obamacare tax that takes effect in January 2013.[5] How many other businesses have or will soon be following suit?

Unfortunately the discussions and process of enacting this law were not made public even though on at least 8 separate occasions President Obama said he would make the healthcare negotiations procedure transparent.[6]

“You know I respect what the Clinton’s tried to do in 1993 in moving health reform forward. But they made one really big mistake, and that is they took all their people and all their experts into a room and then they closed the door. We will work on this process publicly. It’ll be on C-SPAN. It will be streaming over the net.” – November 2008, Google Q & A[7]

C-SPAN CEO, Brian P. Lamb, sent a letter in December 2009, formally requesting that the healthcare discussions between the House and the Senate be covered on live TV. He even offered to provide all of the necessary resources to make this happen.[8] As we all know, these negotiations were never televised and in fact were done behind closed doors. Why? What was said behind closed doors that Americans weren’t allowed to hear? What promises (waivers) were made and to whom? What are the real costs to the taxpayers and our economy?

So now we have some groups who were given a free “pass” from submitting to this law and others that will be punished and fined if they don’t. Section 1411 of PPACA grants the Secretary of Health and Human Services (a non-elected official) almost complete power to determine who gets a waiver and who doesn’t.[9] I thought we were all to be treated fairly under the law but apparently not.

People know from a young age the frustration that can be caused when someone in power plays favorites. My parents, for example, had a rule of no jumping on the beds. I can assure you that had I been punished for disobeying this rule but my sister been given the “waiver”, there would’ve been loud cries, and rightly so, of “That’s not fair!”

“Selective enforcement of the law is the first sign of tyranny.”[10] This was the opening sentence in one of the “Obamawaiver” news articles I recently read; and apparently, it is ringing true. Even more frightening is what this law is currently doing and will continue to do to jobs and our economy when it is fully enacted. An analysis by Medicare chief actuary Richard Foster showed that ObamaCare would not reduce overall health care costs, but would increase them by about $311 billion through 2019![11]

The bottom line is a bill this questionable, massive, burdensome, controlling, costly and not to mention unreadable, should never have been passed in the first place. We have one last chance in the 2012 election to stop Obamacare before it becomes embedded into our everyday lives as this law is being implemented in steps, month by month; year by year.

The time is now to get the facts as to how this legislation will impact our nation’s debt, your freedom in healthcare choices (e.g. doctors, insurance companies, premiums, fines etc.), and our economy. Last but not least, find out which candidates have the proven track record for stopping this Federal Government power grab of the healthcare industry and our lives: then you must vote for them, volunteer for them, spread the word about them. We CAN repeal this law before its too late if we work together to get the right people into office.