ObamaCare – Worse Than I Thought

I have been a harsh critic of the Affordable Care Act (known in the streets as “ObamaCare”).  It was bad enough when I unable to keep my current plan (which was “none”).  I found out firsthand how bad ObamaCare is getting when I went to visit my doctor for what was supposed to be a routine blood sampling.

Below is the timeline of my time at the doctor’s office:  (Time entries in bold are entries spent in the office.  Other entries are before and after the visit.)

7/8/14 – 9:00PM – Finished my last snack and started fasting for the blood work.  Fasting is supposed to last twelve hours.

7/9/14 = 9:15AM – Arrive at doctor’s office for a 9:30 appointment.

7/9/14 – 9:30AM – Scheduled time of appointment

7/9 = 9:30-10:15 – Other patients with appointments between 9:30 and 10:00 arrive.

7/9 = 9:40-10:30 – Those mentioned above got to see the doctor.

7/9 = 10:45 – I finally got admitted.

7/9 – 11:00 – Health assistant starts performing total checkup.  (I had my checkup in January and was not scheduled for a checkup). Started developing a caffeine-depleted headache.

7/9 – 11:45 – Getting prepped for blood work.

7/9 – 12:00 –  Informed that my insurance will not pay for the blood work.  I decided that I would hold off on the blood work until I was sure I had the money to pay for the tests.  They took an impromptu urine sample. 

7/9 – 12:10PM – Tried to schedule another appointment.  The next free day is the middle of August. 

7/9 – 3:45PM – Received a phone call from the doctor’s office that there was a “loophole” and that there was a way that my insurance would pay for the blood work.  I was also informed that there was an opening tomorrow, but not until 3:00PM.

I now have to go through another 12-hour fast and I probably will not be able to eat or drink until at least 4:00PM.  I will probably get another headache.

Just When We Thought I Was Done

I spent New Year’s Eve at a nearby bar hoping to ring in 2014 like many other people.  The gameplan was to have a few drinks, watch the ball drop, use the men’s room and steal borrow a roll of toilet paper, and go home and sleep.  It didn’t quite go like that.

The bar was quite sparse when I was ready to ring in the New Year at 10:00AM.  I’m drinking my usual Shirley-Temple-with-a-whiskey-sour-chaser when two couples walked into the bar and sat a few stools from me.  They were quite loud, especially when it came to talking about politics.

The taller of the gentleman seemed to be smart.  He was talking about the problems with the Affordable Health Care Act that nobody else seemed to be talking about.  He mentioned that insurance might be lower for some, but having insurance was no guarantee that a given claim will be processed in the claimant’s favor. Even if the claim was accepted, most insurance policies only cover 80% of the cost of the procedure, leaving 20% to the claimant.  If a patient is going to require an extended hospital stay, he or she will still have to pay over $10,000 after the insurance pays for its portion.

The tall guy starts yelling at the other couple because they voted for Barack Obama.  He then went into a rant about there being only one candidate worth voting for and he quit.  He then explained to them about my “Apple-a-Day” health care plan and my plan to save the humpback dolphins in Lake Michigan.

I was fortunate that he did not recognize me.  I did not quit running for President; I suspended my campaign until I had the time to straighten out the personal matters in my life.  (Or until people started getting furious that I wasn’t out there campaigning.)  The good news is that I have resumed campaigning and will be making campaign stops soon.  I’ll have to put my personal life on hold (which I will do as soon as I remember to buy the batteries for my father’s “Life Alert” button.

A Sad Day for America

The Supreme Court voted today 5-4 to uphold “ObamaCare.”  To show that I am not a ranting Republican with a knee-jerk reaction to anything President Obama does, I will explain why the Republicans are also to blame for this ruling.

Do not forget that the heart and soul of “ObamaCare” came from a health care plan implemented in Massachusetts.  Their health care plan is the “brainchild” of their former governor, Mitt Romney.  Mitt Romney is a Republican.

The vote on the Supreme Court was 5-4 with the deciding vote being cast by Chief Justice John Roberts.  He was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President George W. Bush.  George W. Bush is a Republican.

The reason why it is a sad say for Americans is because this decision does NOTHING to encourage thriftiness in spending.  It doesn’t answer why it costs $20 for a Tylenol at a hospital or why everything associated with healthcare (doctors, medicine, medical equipment, hospitals, malpractice attorneys) is so expensive.  With “no insurance for me, thank you very much” no longer an option, insurance companies (the companies people say Democrats hate, but become the big winners under “Obamacare”) can raise rates because they now know that a person not carrying insurance is no longer an option.

This is why I am an independent.  The political party says one thing but always seems to set the groundwork for the exact opposite.  I don’t have to worry about leaders in my party undermining everything I believe in and they say they believe in.

My plan is the only plan that tries to tackle the costs of healthcare.  Affordable health care  means less money needed for insurance premiums and fewer taxes collected for Medicare and Medicaid.  Both “ObamaCare” and “RomneyCare” will end up costing Americans more money out of their pockets than we are currently paying.

Questions About Health Care

Now that the Senate version of the health care bill is now law (it passed by a 219-212 vote), I have a few questions that I hope somebody can answer for me.

• The antics in Washington have made me sick on and off for a few years.  Is this considered a “preexisting condition” and if it is, when will I be able to get insurance for it?
• I heard that only a portion of the health care law will be in effect right away with the rest of the law not taking effect until 2014.  Which portions take effect now?  With my luck, only the taxing part takes effect now.
• If I adopt a dog, would I be able to get health insurance for it?
• Now that health insurance is going to be mandated, if I don’t get health insurance and am forced to pay a fine, where do they think I am going to get the money to get to pay the fine?

Many Americans are unhappy with this as am I.  I want you to remember this in 2012 that I would have vetoed this if I was President.  The Democrats will feel the brunt of this decision in November as many legislators will soon be alongside their fellow constituents looking for work.  It will be harder for them to find work because they will have to look for employment for a company who got shafted by the new health care law.

I don’t want to make this blog entry as a free pass to vote Republican.  Those of us with a memory realize that it wasn’t too long ago that Republicans had both houses of Congress and the White House.  People voted Democrats to try to atone for Republican failures.  We need to break the vicious cycle of replacing one failure with another.  This can only be done by voting third party candidates and independents like myself.

Not Pleased With the Health Care Bill

Let’s assume for a minute that the health care bill does everything the Democrats say it will without the scary things Republicans say it will do.  I would still be against this bill.  While the bill offers a lot, there are still provisions missing from it that I feel it needs:

• Not all doctors will be able to collect from insurance companies:  Sure doctors can collect if they practice “conventional” medicine of chiropractic medicine, but my doctor practices Santeria medicine.  This bill discriminates against doctors who offer animal sacrifices for the wellness of others.
• Not all drugs are covered in drug plans.  There is no point in getting generic Viagra for $4 if you can’t get a generic case of beer for $4.  Beer contains alcohol, which is a drug.  Looking at some of the women I had been with over the years, I needed that case of beer before I would do anything that would require the use of Viagra.
• It offers little in preventive medicine.  This bill offers no discounts in preventions I feel would work.
• It doesn’t cut the cost of health care, just the amount you would pay out of your pocket.  (Remember, we’re assuming that the Democrats are correct with this bill – which they’re not.)  The price of premiums may be cut, but not the cost.  The government will pick up the costs that you’re not paying for now.  When I say “government”, I mean “taxpayer”, and when I say “taxpayer”, I mean you.

I am not a big fan on mandated health insurance.  Don’t ask me why this happens, but every time auto insurance becomes mandated in a state, the premiums increase.  The states with the lowest insurance rates are the few states that don’t mandate it.

One would figure that a bill as thick as a phone book would have been able to include everything, including the points I mentioned earlier.  This bill does not do that, so I am urging the House of Representatives not to pass this bill until my points are remedied.

A Tribute to Billy Mays

Billy Mays, the greatest TV pitchman ever died in June from a heart attack.  Many people have come to my website following his death.  Like many people, I went and bought the stuff that Billy Mays endorsed that I hadn’t already bought.  The only things I did not already have was the Awesome Auger and the iCan Benefit Insurance.

As a tribute to Billy Mays, I will be growing the patented Billy Mays beard.  (As soon as I find out who holds the patent for Billy Mays’s beard now that he has passed on.  I invite the ladies and gentlemen who have been following my blog to join me in growing a tribute beard.

My Department of Motor Vehicles Plan

This plan might be a bit controversial,and may take quite a bit of money to implement, but it will make the roads safer and drive down the price of auto insurance.  My plan is similar to what teachers use in schools to make sure students know the material covered in class.  I will be instituting “pop quizzes” in driving.  This is how it will work:

• A signal will go off in the car telling you that you are being quizzed by the Department of Motor Vehicles.  You will be judged on driving safety over a three minute span.
• If you pass, a green light will appear on the dashboard and you may continue driving.  The insurance company will be notified and you will save a certain percentage off of your next insurance bill.
• If you fail, a red light will appear on the dashboard.  You will have one minute to pull over in a safe area before the car automatically shuts itself off.  A police officer will be dispatched to give you a ticket and to inform you that your license is revoked and that you will have to apply for your permit and license again.

This plan will get many of the bad drivers off the road and will make the roads safer.