Tag: insurance (page 2)

I was not at all surprised to find the [quite correct] position Senator Patrick Colbeck (R-7th) had taken on the issue of 4111.  His office confirmed his decision to oppose the legislation, and offered exactly what should be the next step in the effort to ensure we have not completely destroyed our ability to provide coverage for employees and families.  Especially considering the grotesque horror of Obamacare and its destructive path towards failure. They say:

"The Senator is exploring other options with regard to potential legislative action that would offer free-market alternatives to a federal or state-federal partnership exchange so the state will have something to fall back on should the provisions of Obamacare be unmanageable or unenforceable."

Its likely that without the state capitulating, there is NO way the federal exchanges can work. The infrastructure would have to be built completely from scratch, and would be unworkable for many years. This allows the weight of such an effort to fall on itself, and no state money or resources need to be involved.  Expanding freedoms (as that statement suggests) for the insurance offerings in Michigan could do wonders.  De-regulating with safety devices built in can make a better product available and cut free some of the innovation as yet unseen.

But until the state is willing to exercise it's 10th amendment authority, its won't happen.  All of the best efforts would make it even harder for Obamacare to work, and by "work" I mean destroy health care as we know it.

And there are people who want that .. badly.

According to the Schoolcraft Republicans, Pope Francis says:

"In the Aparecida Document, a document that represents a joint statement by Latin American church leaders but presented by Francis in 2007, the leaders stated, "we should commit ourselves to `eucharistic coherence,' that is, we should be conscious that people cannot receive holy communion and at the same time act or speak against the commandments, in particular when abortions, euthanasia, and other serious crimes against life and family are facilitated. This responsibility applies particularly to legislators, governors, and health professionals.""

I happen to know it follows the new rules and costs that I and my wife are being FORCED to endure in additional premiums under the 'Women's Health Mandate' on the insurance policies for our business. If we are going to pay for insurance, it MUST cover abortive procedures.

But at this point We have no choice if we wish to offer insurance for our employees (as we have for several years now), and pray that a Supreme court challenge already on its way will offer the relief we seek.

But YOU DO.

No amount of "Its the law - live with it" will make it right.

The plan this time includes mandatory preventive care costs, and the forced "Women's Preventive Act", where employers pay for the sexual proclivities of their female employees.  Sadly it is not only with the traditional sit down agencies that we submit to this constitutional heresy, but with ALL Plans; including those that will be offered through the the government milking farms known as 'health care exchanges. And I suppose I should report that it won't just be the Conservatives that toss any Republican stupid enough to put their hand in the termite mound to grab a handful of nuts.

The agency we deal with, is a little freaked out about the exchange possibility.  It means the end to them and they know it.  Not because they cannot compete, but that they will not be allowed to compete as the government takeover matures.

There are more than merely Republicans and conservatives employed in those agencies.

Recall a few years ago, Michigan AG Mike Cox slapped down the blues for a strange bust out into the for-profit insurance market.  At the time, Cox said:

"Blue Cross has built a huge surplus with the help of state tax breaks and rapidly rising insurance premiums.  They should be cutting health costs for Michigan families instead of diving deeper into the for-profit insurance industry."

Since that slap down, I have frequently imagined how the blues could be dis-assembled.  Not at all that I wanted to, but asking the question of HOW such a structured insurer of last resort might be dissolved at some point. And to be sure, given THAT situation, there ought to have been others inside and out of government who might have wondered as well.  Had it not been for AG Cox wagging the I-don't-think-so finger, a strange funneling of money to other 'for-profit' entities might have happened, costing rate payers dearly.  "Who might have been the recipients and concurrent stockholders in such an arrangement that hides cash flow from non-profit reporting requirements?" could have been the question at hand.

When he said:

"....that's freedom, and I'll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners"

He touched on a point that is relevant no matter whom the leadership might be.  The interference and 'concern' over the affairs of our lives is too often conflicting with the independence we claim as our birthright.  Some folks forget that we have to be able to fail. That risk and reward is a part of the American dream.  That sometimes, our decisions make us healthy, and sometimes not.

Its NOT government's place to provide a boost for a business.  Its NOT government's place to control the healthcare choices through exchanges or limitations on where one buys insurance or the care itself.  Its NOT the government's place to provide housing. Nor is it government's place to control the terms of employment, and compensation that business provides.

Ryan is correct.  

Republicans in Michigan and elsewhere ought to take note of the future VP's comments and internalize them.  

"Obamacare," or whatever the current name is for the redistributive healthcare plan, is unraveling daily.  Between the "unforeseen" costs, and technical problems with implementing it, the biggest government grab of power in the history of the country is showing itself to be what we have called it all along. A worthless, dangerous, legislative Cluster-Foxtrot.

Michigan has had the opportunity to say no to the legislation under the tenth amendment, yet has not yet done so. Our previous Attorney General Mike Cox joined with 26 other states in a lawsuit against Obamacare, and the current AG has continued that course. And as the case makes its way into the Supreme Court of the United States, we are still working against ourselves by accepting the federal bribes and creating the framework for the Obamacare implementation.

But it still must pass through our legislature.

Yesterday, there was an opportunity for testimony on the Michigan Healthcare exchange. The Honorable Chairwoman Gail Haines was gracious enough to extend the public meeting time so that citizens could have their voices heard. One of those voices, Abigail Nobel, spoke regarding Senate Bill 693.

But he has done nothing of the sort.

And while our attorney general Bill Schuette is supposedly fighting against Obamacare as unconstitutional, we have a Snyder enabler Jim Marleau pushing for the finishing touches on the insurance exchanges.

The bottom line is that Obamacare requires every citizen to purchase government approved health insurance under penalty of law, beginning in 2014. Key to enforcing the "Individual Mandates," are federally-regulated health insurance exchanges, which will be set up in each state to facilitate the sale of this mandated insurance.

The law gives states the option to set up an exchange or have the federal government do it for them. Some states (and Legislators) mistakenly believe that if they set up an exchange, they will preserve state control over the exchange. However, Washington bureaucrats will be at the controls regardless of whether the exchange is state or federally established.

Have REPUBLICAN State Senator Jim Marleau tell the feds to take their crappy mandate and shove it where the prostate test goes.

At 3PM today, State Sen. Jim Marleau, chairman of the Senate Health Policy Committee, State Sen. Joe Hune, chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee, Members of those committees, Public Sector Consultants President Peter Pratt, and whatever voices for misc members of the public will be present at:

Senate Hearing Room, Ground Floor
Boji Tower
124 W. Allegan Street
Lansing, MI 48933

The discussion?

The Senate Health Policy and Insurance committees will hold their first hearing on the importance of Michigan establishing its own health insurance exchange in accordance with the Affordable Care Act.