Obamacare - No Advantages for Seniors

Summing It Up:
1. Obamacare cuts $156 billion from Medicare Advantage (MA) Plans
2. Up to half of the 14 million Seniors with MA's could need new health care plans as MA's are dropped or have fewer benefits at greater costs
3. AARP will reap windfall profits as it sells a competing insurance plan
4. President Obama illegally took $8 billion to avoid MA cuts hitting Senior's in October and hurting his re-election
Read on for the full details...
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Until the past week I have felt like the prophet shouting doom in the wilderness which no one heard. I tried to tell everyone how unfair Obamacare was. That it paid for the uninsured by taking away from Seniors and the disabled. No one listened. Until now. The Romney Ryan ticket is finally getting the hypocrisy of Obamacare out in the open. Here are the facts, yes, actual facts about one facet of Obamacare.


The claim that you can keep your insurance under Obamacare is not true for the 14 million people who have Medicare Advantage (MA) Plans. President Obama intends to partly pay for Obamacare by gutting $156 billion from MA's over the next ten years. He claims the cuts are against the greedy doctors, hospitals and insurance companies, not Seniors. How stupid does he think we are? All cuts will of course be passed down to Seniors. Both left and right agree that these cuts will impact Seniors, they only disagree on how badly it will hurt Seniors.


What are MA's? They are a pay per use health plan through private insurance companies ranging from inexpensive HMO's to more expensive PPO's. Nearly one-fourth of all Seniors have this plan from a variety of private insurance companies competing for them. When I became disabled I quickly learned that the 20% copay under Medicare added up to more than I could afford. So I bought an annual MA plan with Humana, getting their PPO for just for $80 a month. I get to keep all my specialists and pay from $5-$35 on average per visit. Hospital stays and at home care are reasonable and if I were fit I could even use a free gym membership. I love my MA, which says a lot considering how much I need and use it.


Yet once Obamacare cuts start, analysts expects enrollments in MA's to drop by up to half of the 14 million people currently using these plans. Some insurance companies will stop offering MA's while other plans will offer less benefits yet become prohibitively expensive. There goes President Obama's claim that if you like your health care you will get to keep it. Wrong! Not only does Obama know this but he is lying to us about it and I do not use the word lightly.



The cuts were to start in January, but as you sign up for MA's in October then Senior's would see the impact of the cuts right before the election. That could lose the election for Obama. To prevent this, the president raided $8 billion from a fund to be used for something else. The Government of Accounting came out and said this was an illegal usage of this money. But once again the president is getting away with a clearly unconstitutional act for the sole reason of trying to fool Americans in order to get re-elected.




Here's another fact not discussed. Once cuts take affect and Seniors lose their current MA's or find them too costly they will look for new health insurance. Guess who does not sell MA's but does sell competing insurance plans and expects to make a huge windfall profit from Seniors replacing their MA's? AARP! Now do you understand why they support Obamacare? I just heard Obama's campaign manager say that Obamacare must be good if AARP supports it. Bullshit. Of course AARP loves Obamacare! AARP will make millions in profit from new members who move away from the decimated MA's. If AARP truly cared about Seniors they would be against this plan which hurts the 14 million Seniors on Medicare Advantage Plans.




One final fact. You must be 65 to qualify for most other plans, including AARP's. So once Obamacare starts cutting Medicare Advantage Plans, then as a 54 year old disabled person, I am screwed. Yes a few insurance companies will sell another plan to me but at a cost ranging from $350 to $1200 a month! It is rough enough coping with my disabilities but now I am truly afraid of the future when Obamacare raids my Medicare Advantage Plan. If my MA is dropped then I am back to just the 20% copay with Medicare, which is terrifying.
Without my Medicare Advantage Plan, my choices become bankruptcy, or to postpone or even not have medical care, including operations to save my limbs or even my life. Overly dramatic? Not really.




In 2009, for example, I needed four separate operations adding up to medical expenses of just over $500,000 for the year! Through my MA, I paid $12k, a lot, but reasonable, since if I only had Medicare I would have owed 20% or $100,000! The April surgery saved my right leg, two others were to save my left leg, is keeping them worth bankruptcy? People might be forced to ask questions just like this under Obamacare. So I have every reason to fear the cuts to this wonderful MA health insurance plan. And to wonder in what world is it right that Obamacare is paid for at the expense of disabled Americans, the very people who depend on health care the most?




Now compare Obamacare to the proposed Romney/Ryan plan. First and most importantly, they say it will not impact anyone over 55, unlike Obamacare which is paid for by taking funds from the Senior's Medicare Advantage Plans. Then I just read that the Republican plan using vouchers will actually be very similar to my Medicare Advantage Plan. They feel that offering it to more people will create more competition and therefore lower prices to the consumer. So instead of ruining this wonderful insurance plan, as Obamacare does, Romney will offer MA's to everyone! And you will love it!




But regardless of the Republican plan, I am just very grateful that Romney and Ryan are finally calling the president on his lies about Obamacare. Now we can begin to have a real debate with facts about what Obamacare will do to Seniors. Not what it might do but what it will do. And what Obamacare will do is hurt old and disabled Americans, the very people Medicare was created to help.

Arrogance over Protocol

The recent gatecrashers at the White House bring to mind what happens when a new administration comes into office. Understandably, they are pumped up over their recent win and now want to put their own mark on the country. Unfortunately new administrations also have the tendency to walk over the rank and file and don't listen to the real people who run the departments regardless of who is president. The new presidents tell the old-timers that they don't want to hear the excuse of "that's how we always did it" and now want things done their way. However, the new administration has neither the experience nor the patience to listen to the very peope who could help them. In their arrogance at being elected Presidents don't understand that the intricate protocol that has been perfected over the past 100 years enables new presidents to fulfill their new duties with poise and class and avoid potentially embarrassing mistakes. I have a sneaking suspician that this is at the heart of the lapse in security at the Obama's first state dinner.


If I remember correctly, there were horror stories about the last two Democratic administratons. Both the Clinton and the Carter incoming teams were young, inexperienced and few on their team had much managerial skills or spent any time in DC. Yet these young politicians came across as arrogant, cocky, power hungry and charged with the belief that they were empowered to do whatever they felt was best for the country. There were rumors that the Clintons sold overnight stays at the White House to major donors or their Hollwood friends. Then there was Bill Clinton's conduct in the White House with that woman which showed a complete lack of respect for the office of the President and for the White House, itself. Carter wasn't much better as he invited his adolescent daughter to a formal state function where she then proceded to read a book at the dinner table.

In contrast to the disastors created by Carter and Clinton's administrations, both of the Bush's had very smooth transitions. Yes, George HW Bush went from VP to President, retaining a number of people from Reagan's regime. But Bush himself was a career politician who knew the ins and out of Washington. Ford was another old time politician who stepped into the void left by one of the country's most traumatic experiences. Yet Ford was still able to assure the country and the world that the US would continue intact. But this kind of transition isn't always that smooth, as both LBJ and Truman had very rocky transitions from VP to President.


Clinton's administration not only began disastrously but it ended equally shamefully with stories of trashed offices and destroyed computers. But, like his father, George W. Bush had class and never complained about the mess left by the Clintons. And unlike the Clintons and Carters, Bush had a team that included career politicians who understood DC, which helped his team have an easier transition than if they were all newcomers.


Now we have Obama who has even less experience than Carter and Clinton, who had both been governors. To his credit, Obama did keep a few men from Bush's administration. This was particularly helpful in providing a smooth transition to our military, although, ironically, this caused Obama a lot of grief with the very liberal base who elected him.


In spite of the media's shunning of any negative story about the Obama administration, more and more cracks are starting to appear. People are beginning to question if mistakes are being made due to Obama's ignorance and inexperience or perhaps due to his determination to do things his way or to a combination of all of the above.


There are Obama's continuing bows to other state leaders when rarely if never has a President bowed that low for it is seen as a symbol of weakness. At times Obama comes across as too parochial. He had a favorite during the World Series, he of course cheered on the Chicago basketball team and he somehow found the time to travel overseas to help promote his hometown in its failed bid for the Olympics. On the other hand, he snubbed all of the activities regarding World War II.


Speaking of traveling, he really shouldn't be proud of the fact that he has traveled more than any other president in the first year. Someone with more experience, who truly understands his role as President, which isn't to go sightseeing with his wife and kids, belongs first and foremost at home. This is especially true when the country is hurting as much as the US is with the high unemployment, horrible housing markt and in the middle of a major recession.


And now we have a couple breaking through what should be extreme security to crash the Obama's first state dinner. (I also can't help but wonder why it took them 10 months before they had their first major official event.) I am sure that the Secret Security will take a major hit for this breach in security. Yet there are faint hints that the Obamas have tried to relax some of the security surrounding the White House and themselves. Perhaps once again a young inexperienced first couple is bulldozing over the rank and file so that they can do things their way. They might not realize that there is a reason behind the established protocol. Both of the Obamas need to stop talking so much and to start listening to the old-timers around them. Their very lives might depend upon it.

Man Up, Mr President

After nine months in office Barack Obama needs to either start acting like the President of the greatest nation on earth or at the very least Obama needs to grow a pair and start acting like a man.

The hypocrisy of this man and his followers knows no bounds. Everyone recalls that one of Obama’s main campaign themes last year was that he was going to enact “change”, right? And wasn’t cleaning up Bush’s mess implicit in Obama’s desire to replace him as President and his pledge to change the direction of this country? And even I agree that Bush left a lot of problems but instead of changing things Obama is still complaining about the mess left by Bush. Excuse me? At my old office the unwritten rule was that you could blame the person you replaced for one month, after that it was your problems and messes. Yet after nine months Obama is still whining about the problems Bush left instead of manning up and taking responsibility. Mr. President, its past time that you quit your bitching and do the job you promised you would do. I didn’t vote for the man but I still want him to act like a President and not like a spoiled brat complaining that the mess isn't his fault and that he needs more time to decide what to do.

Perhaps making a decision might be easier if he actually spent more time at the office. I’m beginning to think that Obama is the kind of president who likes the perks but not the work. Take for example, golfing. Did you even know he was a golfer until after he was elected? It sure wasn’t mentioned much since golfing didn’t go along with his image. And yet, this ex-community organizer recently played his 24th game of golf since being President! So nearly three times a month Obama was out hitting the balls while the country suffered from high unemployment, two wars, bail outs, car industry going up in ruins etc. etc. And yes, the last president was also an avid golfer, but it took him two years and nine months to play golf 24 times!

Obama is also quite the entertainer. Funny how you never hear about this, either, but Obama frequently hosts dinner parties inviting all kinds of Hollywood entertainers, famous singers and musicians. Did you know that the First Couple have been hosting a “music series” whose purpose is rather vague other than to demonstrate a commitment to the arts? Although in a recent MSNBC report, Michelle did mention that “she wants her daughters, Malia and Sasha, to be ‘aware of all kinds of music — other than hip-hop.’” I guess as First Lady, instead of buying her daughters CDs she has a dinner party where the guest of honor works for their dinner by putting on a concert for the First Daughters.

Between rounds of golf and listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire or taking his wife out on a date, it’s no wonder the President doesn’t have time to make decisions. In fact the only decision it seems he has made is that its good to be President and barely into his first term he is planning for his second term. Perhaps this is why he delays decision making – he doesn’t want anyone to be mad at him. It is also why he is constantly traveling gee, guess where, to swing states that he is afraid he might lose now that people actually know him.

The President also likes to hear himself talk. Oh he never settles anything with his speeches but he sure takes a long time to say very little. As Politico.com reported: Six months into his presidency Obama had already “uttered more than half a million words in public.” In one whirlwind week last month, the president made his third appearance on “60 Minutes,” gave a major speech on the financial crisis the next day, and made a record five talk-show appearances the following Sunday. And on the eighth day, He did Letterman. Yak, yak, yak. And yet after listening to one of his speeches you walk away wondering what it was that he said.

This summer Obama held numerous town halls across the country pitching the new health care plan, except there was no plan. There were half a dozen or so plans being discussed by Congress but we had yet to see a plan agreed upon by the Senate and House. And it is also like Obama for him to ask Pelosi and Reid to come up with a health care plan thereby relieving Obama of making a decision. Instead, he did what he does best, talk and at town hall after town hall, there was Obama going on and on and on about a health plan that didn’t even exist yet. Typical.

So instead of being President and making decisions Obama is still campaigning or else enjoying the perks of the office. Hell, after nine months in office he still hasn’t decided which church to join in DC nor could Obama even decide what kind of dog to get! And he never did make that decision as somebody gave him a dog, thereby making the decision for him. So if Obama struggles in making a decision about buying a friggin’ dog, no wonder he dithers on major issues, like the wars.

Speaking of the wars, a key advisor recently quit because we had no strategy for the war in Afghanistan. If we continue to neither bring in more troops nor pull them out then the situation will continue to worsen. Yet when Obama was told of this resignation and asked about determining a strategy, the President said he needed more time. Excuse me? This is the man who complained bitterly about Bush’s “mishandling” of the war so you would think that his team would have had their own strategy in place even before Obama was elected. Instead soldiers will die while the President is out playing golf instead of making a decisions.

Conservatives pointed out during the election last year that most of Obama’s political experience was in campaigning. And in the little time Obama did spend in office he rarely voted on an issue and if he wasn’t conveniently absent for an important vote he would cop out with his indecisive “present”. So it should come as no surprise that Obama continues to dither on making decisions.

Except he isn’t one of 50, where he could let others make the decision. Instead he is now the top man. And guess what, as President you don’t always have the luxury of more time. Nor can you vote “present” and hope someone else makes the difficult decisions for you. As Truman so succinctly put it “The buck stops here.” So its way past time that you man up and do your job, Mr. President.

Let's Do Lunch

Wouldn’t you just love to be in the White House today? Our four living presidents: Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George Bush, and President elect Barack Obama are meeting today for a luncheon at the White House. How fascinating will that be?

The dynamics between our past, current and future Presidents would be very interesting to watch. Obviously the father and son Bush’s get along, or you would suppose they would. A few years ago Bush 43 tapped Bill Clinton to work closely with Bush 41 and apparently they all became friends in spite of their political differences. And as the new kid on the block I assume that everyone wants to talk to Obama or give him advice and he should be listening to the experiences of his predecessors. So that leaves Jimmy Carter. Neither of the Bush’s have reason to like him nor could I see Carter and Clinton having much in common other than being the two past Democrat Presidents. Besides, Jimmy should be feeling a bit embarrassed again about that Nobel Peace Prize for the Middle East and his Habitat for Humanity houses falling apart.

I sure would like to be a fly on the wall to listen in to these men who are in the most exclusive club in the world; United States Presidents. Then again, instead of discussing current events they could simply be telling Obama about hidden rooms in the White House or comparing golf tips. (Isn’t it interesting that all last year the MSM touted Obama as being a basketball player, a very hip urban sport, but waited until after he was elected to mention that he was also an avid golfer, a country club sport associated with Republicans!)

Anyway, I wonder how many other countries could have all of their past living leaders meet with the upcoming leader without bloodshed? In spite of everything that is wrong with this country we still must be doing something right!