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By Cassandra Effect, February 9, 2010 10:06 am

Anthem BCBS of California to raise premiums by 39% in 2011!

In an attempt to plug into populist anger against high insurance costs, US Health and Human Services Cabinet Secretary Kathleen Sebilus accidentally proves that when a company has monopoly power, its prices are not held down by market pressures. Any chance that Obama, the Constitutional Scholar, would will be willing to consider using the Commerce Clause to open states up to interstate competition for health insurance? Don’t count on it.

From Reuters:

“These extraordinary increases are up to 15 times faster than inflation and threaten to make health care unaffordable for hundreds of thousands of Californians, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet in a difficult economy,” Sebelius wrote to Anthem Blue Cross President Leslie Margolin.

While it was unclear what, if any, steps the U.S. health department could take, Sebelius said she was “very disturbed” and was “closely monitoring” the Anthem situation. State authorities in California — the nation’s most populated state — are also investigating the reported rate hike.

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By Cassandra Effect, December 22, 2009 3:06 pm

Tennesseee state legislators Debra Maggart and Susan Lynn have called upon the TN State Attorney General to take legal action against the federal government’s takeover of the healthcare system and unfunded mandates of increased Medicaid spending.   These women are the Patriots of today!

“Such an increase would place a great burden on the citizens of this state. It is clear by the wording of the legislation itself that not every state would face a similar and equal burden,” stated Rep. Debra Maggart.

Lynn explained that, “We see this as a violation of equal protection of the law, an affront to our sovereignty, and as a breach of the U.S. Constitution.”

Full Letter Text is below and can also be found HERE:

Attorney General Robert E. Cooper, Jr.

P.O. Box 20207

Nashville, TN 37202-0207

Dear General Cooper,

This letter is to formally request that you prepare to take the appropriate legal action against the federal government in the event HR 3200 passes into law. We request this action in order to grant Tennessee relief from the unfunded mandate contained in the bill requiring Tennessee to comply with the expansion of the federal Medicaid program.

Under this bill, Tennessee would be forced to expand our Medicaid program, potentially costing the citizens of this state $1.4 billion dollars in additional state taxpayer funds annually. Such an increase would place a great burden on the citizens of this state. It is clear by the wording of the legislation itself that not every state would face a similar and equal burden.

We see this as a violation of equal protection of the law, an affront to our sovereignty, and a breach of the U.S. Constitution.

The passage of this bill is imminent, and as Governor Bredesen has noted, “We can’t print money.” This bill would expand the program beyond the fiscal capacity of this state.

Thank you for your timely attention of this matter.

Most sincerely,

Susan Lynn

State Representative

District 57

Debra Young Maggart

State Representative

District 45

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By Cassandra Effect, November 8, 2009 9:58 pm

The Dick Towel …. its the only thing that makes any sense at this point….

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By Cassandra Effect, September 25, 2009 6:51 am

H/T RightCondition.com

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By Cassandra Effect, September 21, 2009 12:04 pm

President Obama was on the Sunday talk show circuit this week in an unprecedented 5 show appearance.  His discussion around what is a tax and his analogy to equating health care to auto insurance is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of someone who thinks he can fools the American people.  To wit:

1) He actually takes George Stephanopoulos to task for using the dictionary definition of a “tax”

2) Obama’s logic of comparing health insurance to auto insurance is completely faulty and PROVES THE EXACT OPPOSITE of his point!  Obama says that we all pay about $900 per person in an “extra” fee for uninsured people’s health care.  His argument is that by having EVERYONE buy health care we will somehow each pocket that difference.  But the Auto Insurance market destroys that argument.  Nearly every state that has mandatory auto insurance (48 of them),  ALSO requires you to buy UNINSURED MOTORIST (UMI) coverage.    Strangely enough, UMI costs between 15-22% of the total policy cost.   So even with an auto insurance mandate, I AM STILL PAYING FOR THE UNINSURED.  Except now its a line item on my bill versus a hidden cost.  Well doesn’t that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside now.  More info at The Council on Affordable Health Insurance .  Mr. Obama may be selling but the American people aren’t buying.

Full transcript at ABC

STEPHANOPOULOS: You were against the individual mandate…

OBAMA: Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: …during the campaign. Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if you don’t

How is that not a tax?

OBAMA: Well, hold on a second, George. Here — here’s what’s happening. You and I are both paying $900, on average — our families — in higher premiums because of uncompensated care. Now what I’ve said is that if you can’t afford health insurance, you certainly shouldn’t be punished for that. That’s just piling on.

If, on the other hand, we’re giving tax credits, we’ve set up an exchange, you are now part of a big pool, we’ve driven down the costs, we’ve done everything we can and you actually can afford health insurance, but you’ve just decided, you know what, I want to take my chances. And then you get hit by a bus and you and I have to pay for the emergency room care, that’s…

STEPHANOPOULOS: That may be, but it’s still a tax increase.

OBAMA: No. That’s not true, George. The — for us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. What it’s saying is, is that we’re not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore than the fact that right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance. Nobody considers that a tax increase.

People say to themselves, that is a fair way to make sure that if you hit my car, that I’m not covering all the costs.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But it may be fair, it may be good public policy…

OBAMA: No, but — but, George, you — you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase. Any…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Here’s the…

OBAMA: What — what — if I — if I say that right now your premiums are going to be going up by 5 or 8 or 10 percent next year and you say well, that’s not a tax increase; but, on the other hand, if I say that I don’t want to have to pay for you not carrying coverage even after I give you tax credits that make it affordable, then…

STEPHANOPOULOS: I — I don’t think I’m making it up. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Tax — “a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.”

OBAMA: George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to the dictionary to check on the definition. I mean what…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, no, but…

OBAMA: …what you’re saying is…

STEPHANOPOULOS: I wanted to check for myself. But your critics say it is a tax increase.

OBAMA: My critics say everything is a tax increase. My critics say that I’m taking over every sector of the economy. You know that.

Look, we can have a legitimate debate about whether or not we’re going to have an individual mandate or not, but…

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you reject that it’s a tax increase?

OBAMA: I absolutely reject that notion.

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By Cassandra Effect, September 10, 2009 8:21 pm

More video from Patriot US Representative John Shadegg at the Freedomworks Liberty Summit in Washington DC today – these are his comments on the 9/9/09 Obama Health Care Speech

More? Four words sum up Obamas Congressional health care speech – YOU WILL PAY MORE)

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By Cassandra Effect,

The US Census came out with a report on Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage  today.

some quick hits:

20% of the Uninsured are illegals – and strangely only 44% of the “foreign born – not a citizen” reported being uninsured.  Now I’m sure there some Canadians living here and shuttling back home for their doctor visits, but you have to wonder how many of the 56% of non-citizens are getting their care through our Medicaid programs.

30% of American Indians and Alaska Natives are uninsured (how about that great Government health care!? see Will Obama Health Care Reform look like the Indian Health Service)

Families with RELATED children had the LOWEST uninsured rates of any group (less than 10%).   Could it be that traditional families with two adults plus kids is a viable solution for encouraging personal responsibility.

Young Adults had the highest rates of uninsurance at 28%  for 18-24 year olds and 26% for 25-34 year olds.  Could their behavior be entirely rational?  That is not buying insurance when you likely don’t need it?  Of course!  This age group only need catastrophic care – not pre-paid medical care!

Plenty more available from the Main Stream Media but you won’t see these stats – I guarantee it!

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By Cassandra Effect, September 9, 2009 9:44 pm

Its late and I just got into my hotel in Washington DC – so I’ll make this short and sweet regarding Obama’s Address to the Joint Session of Congress.  He is on the ropes and trying to repackage his health care bill to ensure he gets SOMETHING out of Congress to he can declare victory.  I listen on the radio on the drive to DC but it wasn’t hard to catch most of his BS.

Here are the things that you should be paying attention to:

1) He promises the new law will take 4 years to go into effect.  This ensures get gets to brag about bringing health care reform and run on that for his second term without having to actually be ACCOUNTABLE for its results.  By then its too late and he’s in his 2nd term of office.

2) He made alot of smarmy references to the HR 3200 detractors and kept saying his plan didn’t do any of the things people have been attacking him on.  Of course this is mixing the issues – Obama has not had a plan until tonite in front of the American people.  So that makes his attack on others remarkably disingenuous.

 3) He promises three big things to the American people – More security and stability for those with coverage, Provide insurance for those who don’t have it, and slow the costs of health care.

Lets take a closer look at these pieces of the plan

1. Guaranteed Coverage without any problems for pre-existing conditions
2. No Lifetime Cap on benefits
3. A government mandated max on out of pocket expenses
4. Force insurance companies to cover “At no extra charge” preventative medicine (check ups, mammograms, etc)
5. Mandatory Personal Health Insurance Coverage

These four Mandates will result in HIGHER INSURANCE PREMIUMS – there is no way these things will result in LOWER COSTS! 

The Most DISTURBING part of the plan is the proposal to create a government sponsored “Insurance Exchange”  that will be able to serve the people who don’t currently have health insurance.  Insurance plans will want to compete for the millions of people who enter this “exchange” but realize this : the GOVERNMENT will leverage these millions of people just like any other Payer, and the Insruance companies will not want to be viewed negatively by the Feds, so do you REALLY think they will charge fair market prices to this group of government subsidized people?   I don’t think so.  They will charge lower than normal prices to entice people to sign up with them just like they did with Medicare Part D benefits programs.   Regular folks with traditional insurance will look on and wish they had these cheap plans and then the tidal wave rush to abandon your employer program for the quasi government programs will be on.

Whats missing of course is PORTABILITY – the ability for me to own my personal policy and not have to worry about my employer changing my benefits arbitrarily.

His plan on paying for the plan is the Trojan Horse to the whole thing:

By requiring everyone to buy more expansive policies, costs WILL go up, which will kick in his provision to force spending cuts.  Which no one will like – so either rationing will occur or your taxes will go up, or worse yet you will see the costs shift to those with paid for insurance.   Hold on – I reported on this yesterday in Sneak Peek at Obama’s new health care proposal – if you make more than $40,000 per year you will PAY MORE!

Now, add it all up, and the plan I’m proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years — less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration.  (Applause.)  Now, most of these costs will be paid for with money already being spent — but spent badly — in the existing health care system.  The plan will not add to our deficit.  The middle class will realize greater security, not higher taxes.  And if we are able to slow the growth of health care costs by just one-tenth of 1 percent each year — one-tenth of 1 percent — it will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long term.

I wonder what “LONG TERM” Mr Obama used for his calculations – I’m thinking double digit years here!  Anyone do the math on this?  Its ridiculous, and more of the same BS from Politicians who like to use big numbers to impress us. 

No surprise that he dragged out the still warm corpse of Ted Kennedy to sell his plan as a moral issue.  Yawn.

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By Cassandra Effect,

Looks like the One couldn’t stand it to not deliver the speech he =20
really had intended on Tuesday to the kids!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-Dis=

cussion-with-9th-Graders-Wakefield-High-School/

Check out this gem -

So I’m always interested in people who are able to bring about change, not through violence, not through money, but through the force of their personality and their ethical and moral stances.

And this doozy.  We all just need a break.  Yeah, that’s it.  
 
“You hear about people who are sick but don’t have health care, and suddenly they get a bill for $100,000, and there’s no way they can pay for it, and they’re about to lose their house. And you’re just reminded that the country is full of really good people who sometimes are going through a hard time,” 
 
“They just need a break.  They need a little bit of help.  Maybe the way things are set up right now isn’t always fair for people, and that motivates you, because you say, well, I can’t make everything perfect, I can’t prevent somebody from getting sick, but maybe I can make sure that they’ve got insurance so that when they do get sick, they’re going to get some help.”

Did he just admit he can’t cure the sick?  The man is mortal!

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By Cassandra Effect, September 8, 2009 7:03 pm

As Obama prepares to deliver his Health Care Speech on Wednesday night, there is a bill already in Congress which performs most of the functions that the Senate Finance Committee is indicating it will include in its new version of the health care bill.  That already written legislation is S391 The Healthy Americans Act.  I already reported on this to a small degree in Senate Finance Committee to release health bill soon.   The good news is this bill is less than 200 pages long, so you should be able to read it quickly.  It’s important that you have an understanding of this bill and what it means as 7 of the Senate Finance Committee members are also sponsors of this bill, and it is Bi-Partisan.  You should expect the Senate Finance Committee bill to incorporate many parts of this bill.

The bill requires all people to buy insurance.  Subsidized of course to up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level.  It eliminates pre-existing exclusions.  And it requires all insurance products to provide at a minimum, the same benefits that Federal Employees receive.  These benefits include $15 copays for doctor visits.   Requiring these generous federal benefits for every American will NOT help reduce insurance costs!  It will make all Americans expect to pay next to nothing out of pocket, and eliminate any incentives to create new models of insurance packages such as high deductible policies, Health Savings Accounts and other novel forms of providing insurance.

The catch to making the Act work is that employees will now buy their own policies, which they own in their name rather than receive it through their employer.  They assume that employers will take the money they have been spending on employee health care and convert that money into increased wages.  Do you REALLY think employers will comply with this part of the scheme.  I can assure you that employers will looks to pocket some of the money that they have been paying and what they they will gives back to employees!  The Act would have the IRS collect your health insurance premiums through the withholding process to ensure that there are no free riders in the system and that EVERYONE pays in.  Can you say another government department that will need to be expanded so that it can be dedicated to collecting and managing the transfer of these payments to your insurer?  

The Lewin Group did a study (HERE and HERE) on the program and gave it a thumbs up

The Brookings institute gave props to it – “It’s not perfect, but neither is anything else.” 

It also has the Congressional Budget Office seal of approval

Watch out folks – the Old Guard Republicans do want to pass a bill – they are terrified of not giving people free stuff and being viewed as the party of “No”.  Free giveaways are what politicians do to endear themselves to their constituents.

The insanity of the entire bill is that it is projected to  save only $22 per year per family in out of pocket costs (premiums plus copays, etc).  What you say?  Why bother all this to save $22?  Well my friend – this is a WEALTH TRANSFER program!  Households making under $40,000 will see savings, but any household making more than $40,000 per year will PAY MORE!    Now that’s my kind of change!  Oh wait – NOT!

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By Cassandra Effect, September 5, 2009 8:51 pm

From the NY Times:

Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, signaled his intentions in a telephone conference call with five other committee members who have been struggling for months to forge a bipartisan bill and break a partisan stalemate in Congress, an official familiar with the call said.

Strange don’t you think ?  The Democrats have a majority in the House, and until Ted Kennedy died, a filibuster proof majority in the Senate.  yet the NY Times somehow considers this a partisan stalemate!  What the Times won’t admit is is it isn’t partisanship that’s holding it up, but constituent backlash which is freaking out some faux conservative Dems who may actually want to run again in 2010.

According to the Times, the bill would contain the following:

• Mandatory Health Insurance by all people
• No exclusions for pre-existing conditions – and a maximum that insurers can charge high risk people.  Guess who the cost is shifting to – you got it- healthy young people.  The ones who voted in droves for Obama.  The irony is delicious, isn’t it?
• Employers must help pay for coverage for low income workers
• Medicaid will become accessible to those who are 133% of the Federal Poverty Level, and Subsidies would be available for people earning up to 300% of the Poverty Level.  In case you aren’t paying attention, that is $66,000 for a family of four.  And “subsidies” means wealth transfer, meaning  higher taxes from those who earn more than that level.
• The new Medicaid recipients would be funded in part by States.  Gee – how will they do that?  Raise taxes of course.  This would be Obama’s way of avoiding directly taxing his dear people.  he would make the STATES do it, not the Federal Government!  What a crock!
• The bill will create consumer owned health care co-ops to compete with private insurers.  I’ll be eager to see the details on how exactly they plan on having the Fed subsidize and back up these co-ops.

and the coup d’grace:

To help finance the legislation, Mr. Baucus is expected to propose a new tax on insurance companies selling policies with premiums far exceeding the national average, roughly $13,000 a year for family coverage.

What do you think “Far Exceeding” would mean?  And lets be real here – with large employers being self funded, its in the employers self interest to “mark up’ the value of the health insurance benefit they are providing so that they can generate maximum tax savings.  the “value” of the insurance through a self-funded employer is not a transparent transaction since the employer is only buying reinsurance and paying the bills as they come.  Anyone working for a Fortune 500 company should expect to be the recipient of the “Cadillac Health Plan” Tax they will be proposing.  bet your bottom dollar on that one!

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By Cassandra Effect, September 4, 2009 4:40 pm

The poor old man wasn’t even protesting anything – just checking out the action.

AP Story HERE if you have somehow missed this

Is Free Health Care akin the the Ring of Power?

Its not enough to say keep your hands off my health care – now I have to worry about keeping them from EATING ME ALIVE!

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By Cassandra Effect, September 1, 2009 8:24 pm

Question: How to sell America on the DESPERATE NEED for sweeping changes to our health care system? 

Answer:  have the NY TImes run stories featuring photos of  thousands of Americans lining up  for free care, and suggest that without the free clinics they would not ever, ever, ever get the health care they need.

For the second day in a row, thousands of people lined up on Wednesday — starting after midnight and snaking into the early hours — for free dental, medical and vision services, courtesy of a nonprofit group that more typically provides mobile health care for the rural poor.

Like a giant MASH unit, the floor of the Forum, the arena where Madonna once played four sold-out shows, housed aisle upon aisle of dental chairs, where drilling, cleaning and extracting took place in the open. A few cushions were duct-taped to a folding table in a coat closet, an examining room where Dr. Eugene Taw, a volunteer, saw patients

The problem with this scenario? 

Many of those here said they lacked insurance, but many others said they had coverage but not enough to meet all their needs — or that they could afford. Some said they were well aware of the larger national health care debate, and were eager for changes.

For those willing to endure the long waits, the arena was like a magical medical kingdom, where everything was possible once a person got through the door.

Well – then lets all hope that that free universal health care does not result in rationing…….

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By Cassandra Effect, August 21, 2009 6:34 am

The left wing loons are showing their tyrannical side again by demonstrating against Whole Foods CEO Op-Ed on health care reform that was publiched in the Wall Street Journal On August 11  (reprted on Cassandra Effect at Whole Foods offers REALISTIC solutions to health care)

They are using Alinsky Rule 12 – Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and attack it.

By focusing on John Mackey as a person and the company he works for, they don’t actually address the points he made in his article.    The apparantly is a Facebook page with 19,000 people signed up to “boycott” Whole Foods.”  We all know that it is far easier to click a button on your computer to boycott something than actually do it.

This boycott is being led by an organization called SinglePayerAction, a non-profit group dedicated to “everybody in, nobody out”.  This group is run by Russell Mokhiber, the author of the website corporatecrimereporter.com, and co-author of the book Corporate Predators.   His latest mantra is that 60 Americans die each day  for lack of health care.    Rather than argue that point, lets assume its true – that’s roughly 22,000 people a year.  Yet our Congress and President Obama are proposing completely changing the health care systems we have today and spending trillions of dollars for 22,000 people?   Hey – I’ve got an idea – if those 22,000 people (allegedly) are the problem – lets just sign them up for Medicaid and boom – problem solved at a cost of only $10 Million per year (assuming a cost of  $5000 per person).  Of course – this is not the real story – this is about POWER AND CONTROL – make no mistake – Socialism and Tyranny are looming on the horizon – stand up Americans!

So be sure to spend some money today at Whole Foods to show your support to a man and a company who dares speak the truth about health care reform!

The original, unedited op-ed can be found on the Whole Foods CEO Blog HERE with hundreds of comments.

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By Cassandra Effect, August 19, 2009 8:45 pm

Today, President Obama, our Dear Leader, has declared that health care is a moral obligation.  He held a conference call with 1000 rabbis, and after telling them he’d love to hold more calls like this to talk about Israel (because he’s such a big fan don’tcha know!) he then pressed them to lead the charge in the moral obligation of health care coverage.

Read all about it in the NY Times

President Obama sought Wednesday to reframe the health care debate as “a core ethical and moral obligation,” imploring a coalition of religious leaders to help promote the plan to lower costs and expand insurance coverage for all Americans.  

“I know there’s been a lot of misinformation in this debate, and there are some folks out there who are frankly bearing false witness,” Mr. Obama told a multidenominational group of pastors, rabbis and other religious leaders who support his goal to remake the nation’s health care system.

Politico adds these quotes:

 “These are all fabrications that have been put out there in order to discourage people from meeting what I consider to be a core ethical and moral obligation: that is that we look out for one another, that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper. In the wealthiest nation on earth right now, we are neglecting to live up to that call,” Obama said. 

We are God’s partners in matters of life and death,” Obama said during the call with Jewish leaders, according to a post on Twitter by Washington-area Rabbi Jack Moline. 
 

I’m not even sure what to make of that super creepy last quote – maybe Ezekiel Emanuel and his DEATH CHART can add some more clarity?

Folks -we are truly living in the world of Atlas Shrugged -as John Galt said in his radio speech:

And then there’s your ‘brother-love’ morality. Why is it moral to serve others, but not yourself? If enjoyment is a value, why is it moral when experienced by others, but not by you? Why is it immoral to produce something of value and keep it for yourself, when it is moral for others who haven’t earned it to accept it? If it’s virtuous to give, isn’t it then selfish to take?

I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

We must take the same oath that John Galt did – before it is too late…

Watch this video  – we are living Ayn Rand’s frightening future-world of Atlas Shrugged!  Wake your friends and neighbors before it’s too late!