My thoughts spiraled down several different avenues this morning
because of a comment made to a story posted concerning a meeting that dude had with healthcare magnets. The
premise is that they discussed ways to care
better for veterans. For me, the read was one more dot on the map
to privatize our government.
For eight years people have cried about Pres Obama making this
country a socialist nation. Forgetting we already run a somewhat
socialist country, it was never the intent of the President or his
administration to make this country socialist. It would be hard, even in
eight years, to turn a capitalistic economy to socialism without first breaking
everything about it. Yet here we are, and our economy is getting stronger and
beginning to show growth, but they will
not admit that. They only point to
the small number attached to the growth rate. It's apparent how we do not
understand enough about economics to know, that growth rate is pretty decent
after the devastating recession we had. I know this because I just took
an economics course and realized just how much I didn't know or had forgotten.
I digress...
Because of some of his policies, the propaganda machine
propped themselves up and misrepresented a lot of information. Millions
of people fed on this and were rabid about these lies and half truths to the
point, they voted for a conman. Now we are on the verge of seeing
corporations take over services we rely on our government to do. Privatizing
infrastructure, Medicaid/Medicare, and VA
health care are only a few of the things
I've seen mentioned. So now instead of making the government cut increased spending we're going just to move the problem to the private sector.
Oh yeah, this will really make America great again. Study
your history, specifically go back to the time of the Robber Barons. The
men who built this country on the backs of workers who were paid little to
nothing and had no guarantees should they
fall ill or got hurt on the job. Before there were regulations on safety
in the workplace. You see, the cabinet he's assembling thinks that $10 an
hour is too much. They don't like unions and want to remove government
regulations so businesses can prosper. Here's how businesses thrive. You stop paying the president and
CEO's multimillion dollar salaries, put
the money back into the workers and watch your profits soar. People can't
buy your product when they don't have enough money to pay for basic necessities. It's funny how the
common man knows this but hardly applies it tot he decisions he makes about
government and elected officials.
That's our problem. We don't think. We've been
conditioned not to connect the dots.
If I say many, your brain triangulates and positions the thought of
hundreds and thousands. Except many can be used to describe any amount
more than one. So I could say many to describe two, but in the context of my statement and the subject, you will
think hundreds. Example: Many are displeased with the ACA.
Look at the numbers. More people have healthcare than any time in
our history. Yes, some individuals are annoyed (I'll come back to that displeasure) but how does that
compare to the numbers of people are
content or satisfied? What is the ratio? But when discussed, people
will say most, or many people are
displeased and are never asked to quantify that statement by stating how many
are content or satisfied. For that matter, no one discusses the number of
people who are good to go. It only
matters the number of people with a
negative opinion of the program.
Those with a negative view
are angry at the wrong thing. It would be
more accurate to direct their displeasure (I came back) at the insurance companies. The
insurance companies set the costs of premiums and what can/will be allowed in a policy at a given price. The ACA had
nothing to do with that. Let's discuss what they ACA did. The ACA
told insurance companies you can no longer deny insurance
for pre-existing conditions or certain health related issues that would cause
the insurance company to pay out a lot in care. It set out guidelines for
preventive care especially in the suggested required area, like women's health.
It changed how some services are categorized to make some frivolous
services taxable (i.e. elective procedures). It gave the consumer a choice.
What it didn't do was regulate premium costs and there in lies the
problem. You see insurance
companies bet on not having to pay for claims because that makes your payments
pure profit for them. So now that they have to cover
"unmentionables" they have to recoup their money somehow. So
they raise rates. A recent study showed most insurance companies saw an
increase in costs in the area they had, in the past, had little to know
expenditures. Overall, they were not losing money, but this higher cost didn't sit well. Unfortunately, that
higher costs
did not keep the CEO from getting a multi-million dollar salary. So the
next time you want to cry about the ACA, place blame where it should be.
On the frickin insurance companies
which have a license to rape and pillage.
We have got to do better. We wanted change, yet failed to make the change where it counts. We
loaded the cannon and set the dope for our demise. Whatever your reasons
for voting for that guy, none of them are going to keep you warm when road
projects are done entirely by a private sector company,
and you now have to pay a toll so they can recoup their money. The
seniors who rely on their Social Security and Medicaid, are gonna have serious buyers remorse if Ryan and
McConnell get their way. All signs say they will. Veterans who are
already disgruntled with the care they receive are now going to see costs where
before there was nothing. You asked for this when you failed to change
the makeup of the House and Senate and gave them a president who is clueless
and malleable. Good luck
