This healthcare law was not created to do anything but fail, so that people will clamour for the government to do something to rescue them…instant acceptance of a totally government-controlled healthcare system…the more you control in a “citizen’s” life, the more you control the citizen…socialism 101…after a hundred years of fighting socialists, communists, and all the other dictatorships to keep them out of other people’s countries, we are handing ours over, lock, stock, and barrel, without a weapon fired, to the traitors that are taking our nation down in order to restructure it into everything she was NOT ever intended to be…

We have a president who refuses to protect our borders until the immigration laws suit HIS idea of what they should be. Since when can a public servant decide whether or not to do his SWORN duty…he did take an oath that he has betrayed repeatedly…he and Congress and our Justices all took an oath to uphold our Constitutional laws.

Obama has stepped out of his legal boundaries in demanding compensation from BP, without a judge or jury to measure blame, set an amount of compensation, or to assign someone to oversee the distribution of the funds. He has declared himself judge, jury, and will probably assign the “distribution” to whomever is in charge of not distributing the Louisiana Katrina funds…

We now have a toll-free number straight to the government, not to report that a company is illegally working illegal aliens, but so the illegal aliens can get government help in getting paid good wages in their illegal paychecks…is that not aiding and abetting an illegal act – A FEDERAL CRIME, since it is, after all, the federal government’s responsibility to protect our borders and check the identity and background of each person we allow into our country.

If we grant amnesty to those already within our borders, without a proper background check (remember – they are UNDOCUMENTED illegal aliens), how do we know we are giving permission for a Mexican national or an Islamic extremist who speaks very good Spanish? Why should people who came here without going through proper channels be given priority over those people who have been waiting and doing what is required of them?

Aren’t good citizens supposed to be law-abiding citizens…not people who take short-cuts because they don’t want to go to the trouble of qualifying (who probably would not qualify if they tried). Hey! They’d make VERY GOOD Democratic Congressional Candidates…they don’t believe in following the law, they take short-cuts because they know what they are doing is illegal…sound familiar?

BTW, keep a watch out for essential benefit requirments that will make it illegal to offer an HSA eligible plan.

It seems also illegal to put employees into an Exchange and then offer an HRA only for health incentives and rewards.

Employers will not have these vehicles to support the physical and mental maintenance of their human capital.

Would anyone want to limit the cost and access to equipment maintenance? Would anyone want to subsidize others who don’t buy an equpiment maintenance agreement?

I have a crazy idea.

[fantasy]HSA’s that can accrue savings over a lifetime coupled with high-deductible plans. People pay out of their HSA’s for routine care, and use their insurance in the event of a medical catastrophe. Premiums are lower and a smaller percentage of their income is handed over to insurance companies every month.

People at the low end of the income-scale get a cash infusion every year. Price transparency and competition reduce prices while every-day thrift and prudence reduce utilization.

You replace your billing overhead with a cash register and a credit/debit card terminal. [/fantasy]

Pie in the sky? Hardly. Particularly when compared with the glaring conflict between the incentive structure built into the reform and its purported outcomes. This “reform” has collapse built into it. Whether that’s a feature or a bug depends on whether or not you dread or eagerly await the arrival of a single payer system.

Since you supported this monstrosity, I sincerely wish that you enjoy your life as a public servant on the wrong end of the inevitable price-fixing and rationing regime that awaits at the end of the collapse. Hope you’ve got those loans under control. Don’t think they’ll be nearly as eager to socialize your debts as they are your income.

Savor, in particular, the robot-like adherence to proscriptive care regimens based on statistical aggregates rather than your own clinical acumen. Better yet – you’ll be penalized for failing to follow the guidelines (rationing rules)*and* will still be on the hook for every ounce of liability, despite following their marching orders.

Best of all, when it’s clear that you’re acting as the ultimate HMO’s rationing agent, you can look forward to every patient you see questioning your motives.

Cheers,

-Ron

Excellent job in digging further into the grandfathering regs and what they mean.