Top 10 Reasons Americans Hate Obamacare

#10. Obamacare was shoved down our throats

Despite years of jam-packed and emotionally-charged town hall meetings, thousands of Americans marching on D.C., protesting at the capitol buildings, flooding and shutting down the congressional hotlines, and writing endless letters and emails to our senators, Obamacare remains intact.  This very unAffordable Act was shoved down our throats on March 23, 2010 and Obama, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Harry Reid, and the majority of Democrats did NOT give a damn then or now  how the American people felt about it.

Remember how Obamacare was passed?  Oh yes, I do, too. It was in the middle of the night, without one single Republican vote, after the “Louisiana Purchase,” the “Cornhusker Kickback,” all the other shady backdoor deals, arm twisting(s), and multiple budget gimmicks. The day Obamacare was signed into law was the day the U.S. government had declared war on “We the People.” And, Americans fought back in massive repudiation in the 2010 elections.

Following the June 28, 2012 Supreme Court’s obscene decision to uphold the law, millions of dollars immediately poured into the Romney campaign as the ‘last-ditch’ effort to defeat Obama, and repeal Obamacare once and for all.  Unfortunately that didn’t work in 2012, nor did taking full “Republican” control of all the branches of government in 2016.

But the American people aren’t stupid. We know a massive power-grab when we see it.  According to the Cato Institute:

What makes this power-grab special is that it concerns not retirement or education, or the many other areas in which the federal government has usurped constitutionally unauthorized power over the years but that most intimate of human concerns, health care. Bad as our health care system is today, due to government meddling in the past, Obamacare will transform it into one massive bureaucracy — high costs, poor service — and the American people know it. That’s why it continues to be so unpopular.

#9. Obamacare Harms The Poor

Contrary to the all the unicorns, and pixie dust promised during the 2010 healthcare debates, we now see how Obamacare actually makes the American healthcare system much worse. In fact, the people Obamacare was supposedly intended to help are the people who are going to be harmed most by this new law. The reason is because 50% of those who gain insurance through Obamacare, do so by enrolling in the expanded Medicaid program, a program that is already designed to fail.

According to National Review’s July 30, 2012 article:

There are many problems with Obamacare. But the law’s cruelest feature is what it will do to low-income Americans who are already struggling. Study after study shows that patients on Medicaid have far worse health outcomes than those with private insurance. The largest study of this type, conducted by the University of Virginia on nearly 1 million patients, found that surgical patients on Medicaid were 97 percent more likely to die in the hospital than those with private insurance, and 13 percent more likely to die than those with no insurance at all. 

These results are not surprising. Medicaid pays doctors and hospitals on average about half of what private insurers pay. Most often, Medicaid pays less than what the care actually costs. As a result, doctors face the choice of caring for Medicaid patients — and going bankrupt — or shutting their doors to the poor and focusing instead on those with private insurance.”

Therefore, many ‘newly insured’ under Obamacare may have ‘health coverage,’ but will not be able to secure a physician. Having this new healthcare coverage may actually be worse than remaining uninsured.

#8. Obamacare Invades Our Privacy

Libertyandpride.com wrote, “H.R. 3590 gives the federal government specific access to individual bank accounts and medical records as provided by that individuals health plan.”

First of all, Obamacare (HR 3590) gives the federal government access to an individual’s medical records. The electronic medical record systems (EMRs) physicians are now required to purchase, have significant potential for ‘data mining’ by the federal government. This invasion of privacy (of both patients and doctors) is significant and has been largely overlooked. The sale of patients’ personal health information is already a multibillion-dollar business, and is happening without patients’ knowledge or consent. Now that Washington bureaucrats have full access to this data, there is no telling what they plan on doing with it. Based on the worldview of some of the new healthcare law’s policy advisors, this is a rather frightening thought.

In addition to this invasion of privacy, the new provision also forces physicians to violate their Hippocratic Oath which states: “All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.”  According to this oath, physicians and patients are to be the main keepers of health records. It should stay that way. Period.

Secondly, Obamacare (H.R. 3590) also gives the federal government specific access to individual bank accounts as provided by that individual’s health plan. The government may also monitor an individual’s finances electronically, for the purposes of determining an individual’s eligibility for certain programs under the bill. Nothing like having the federal government snooping into our bank accounts, right?

Lastly, since the June 28, 2012 U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the law, Obamacare imposed a health insurance mandate which took effect in 2014, based on the Congressional power to regulate tax (giving government unprecedented power to penalize inaction).

While the ink was still drying on the new healthcare bill, 16,000 new IRS agents were already hired to monitor whether or not we have healthcare insurance (and tax us if us don’t). How long before they start monitoring: our grocery bills, refrigerators, and gym memberships? How long before they tax us for the government-prescribed foods we don’t eat, or gym memberships we fail to buy? Where will this invasion stop?

#7. Obamacare Is Expensive

Our national debt is vastly approaching $20 trillion (over $5 trillion of that was added in Obama’s FIRST TERM alone—adding more to the national debt than the previous 43 presidents combined). While Obama promised (during the healthcare debates) that the new healthcare bill would cost  $789 billion, and would reduce the deficit by $143 billion, the actual 10-year cost of Obamacare was closer to $2.3 trillion. When stripped of all its accounting gimmicks, Obamacare adds to our national debt, and does not reduce it one bit. This healthcare law is nothing more than another huge government spending bill (and unfortunately, our children and grandchildren will be the ones largely stuck paying for this atrocity).

Not to mention the fact that Obamacare stifles the engine of the American economy—small businesses. The 2,700 pages of the ACA and its additional 10,000 pages of regulations make it impossible for business owners to anticipate their future expenses. As a result, Obamacare prevents many job creators from hiring. I can tell you that in our own family business, we’ve recently had to cut back our staff, due the burdensome new healthcare regulations. It is no coincidence that unemployment has remained above 8% since Obamacare has become law.

#6. Obamacare Is A Huge Tax Increase

Not only did Obama take $716 billion out of Medicare to try and pay for his obscenely expensive healthcare bill, but he also raised taxes by $836.3 billion to pay for it, with $36.3 billion hitting Americans in 2013 alone (just what we needed when our economy was already ailing, isn’t it?).

#5. Obamacare Creates Doctor shortages

During the healthcare debates, Obamacare was ‘championed’ as extending healthcare coverage to millions more Americans who can’t afford health insurance. Even though Obamacare continues to be the law of the land, it does not necessarily translate into care.

As already mentioned, 50% of the people who gain insurance through Obamacare, do so by enrolling into the Medicaid. For many states this means the size of their Medicaid programs will increase by 50%. The expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare will explode federal and state budgets, forcing states to cut Medicaid reimbursements to physicians.

From Physicians For Reform:

In many states, Medicaid already reimburses less than the cost of delivering care. This means that even though these ‘newly insured’ patients have healthcare coverage, they will have a difficult time finding a physician who will provide care for them. Remember that many physicians are small business owners. When their expenses exceed revenue (as is the case of Medicaid), their business cannot survive–no matter how well intentioned.

Also, If the $716 billion in Medicare cuts don’t drive physicians out of business, they will force them drop Medicare patients.

According to Forbes, “There are 600,000 physicians in America who care for the 48 million seniors on Medicare. Of the $716 billion that Obamacare cuts from the program over the next ten years, the largest chunk—$415 billion—comes from slashing Medicare’s reimbursement rates to doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes. This significant reduction in fees is already driving many doctors to stop accepting new Medicare patients, making it harder for seniors to gain access to needed care.” 

Lastly, abusive government regulations are also driving physicians out of medicine. Since Obamacare hands power over to Washington bureaucrats, doctors no longer have power in medical decision-making they once had. Physicians can now be fined (through withheld reimbursements) out of practice if they do not comply with all the new healthcare regulations.

Between low reimbursements, abusive government regulations, and high malpractice insurance premiums, many doctors cannot afford to stay in business under Obamacare. And, these tremendous doctor shortages will ultimately lead to rationing of care.

#4. Obamacare Violates Our Religious Freedom

Violation of the First Amendment isn’t exactly what Obama advertised when he pushed his healthcare law back in 2010. Yet, it was definitely part of his Administration’s agenda—forcing nearly all employers to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization services.

From an article from The Heritage Foundation, “As of August 1, under Obamcare’s HHS new guidelines, employers had to amend their health insurance offerings to include these drugs and services. And, if they refuse to follow these new guidelines, they receive a fine of $100 per employee per day for non-compliance.”

This outrageous policy made it impossible for employers to afford the fine—meaning they must change their insurance policies or stop offering health coverage to their workers.

But for many employers, offering the types of services required under the HHS mandate violates their consciences. It conflicts with their deeply held religious beliefs. And the government is telling them that doesn’t matter— and that they must pay anyway, regardless of their beliefs.

This is a gross violation of religious freedom our Founder’s fought so hard to attain.

#3. Obamacare Appoints A Death Panel 

Obamacare HR 3403 created a 15-member panel called the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). These UNELECTED, UNACCOUNTABLE bureaucrats were basically given the unprecedented authority to cut Medicare costs anyway they saw fit.

These 15 unelected bureaucrats were also given the power to decide what medical treatment is best for the Medicare patient, instead of the patient (with help of his family and physician) deciding for himself. The IPAB removes all personal medical decision-making from the individual. Remember, Medicare patients are mostly senior citizens, the people who typically need the most medical care. The IPAB may not value the lives of senior citizens as much as we do (Obamacare senior advisor, Ezekiel Emmanuel once stated he believes in ‘allocations by age’ if that gives you any clue).

According to Physicians For Reform, “The recommendations of the IPAB become LAW unless Congress: 1.Overturns the recommendations, and then 2. Passes its own legislation cutting Medicare by an equal or greater amount. Both provisions require a 60-vote majority in the Senate.”

Not only did this provision take personal medical decisions out of the hands of Medicare patients, it actually also transferred LEGISLATIVE POWER to 15 unelected bureaucrats–violating the very freedom principles laid out by our Founders. Instead of IPAB submitting its recommendations to Congress, Obamacare forced Congress to submit to the IPAB board.

#2. Obamacare Is About Government Control

Remember during the healthcare debates when former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi said, “We have to pass the bill in order to find out what’s in it?” Well, since it was been passed, we have found out that Obamacare is not really even about healthcare at all, but about government control.

In fact, within 2,700 pages of Obamacare, we found that the law took all personal choice and responsibility from patients and their physicians, and gave this power over to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the 15-member IPAB, and other Washington bureaucrats. Needless to say, all the government bureaucracy had already written nearly 10,000 pages of additional regulations-with more to come.  This much regulation vastly centralizes power in Washington.

As mentioned earlier, Obamacare fundamentally changed the role of the physician. Again according to Physicians For Reform, “Section 3007 of PPCA (Obamacare) gives the Secretary of HHS extraordinary power to review physicians’ medical decision-making and grants the Secretary power to financially punish physicians who do not comply with the ‘cost-effectiveness’ standards set by the Secretary. Physicians who do not comply will run the risk of being regulated out of business.”

In other words, a physician may be forced to violate his or her Hippocratic Oath (in which the physician acknowledges human life is special, and has love for the individual patient) to become a servant of the State (where the physician is only looking out for the financial interest of the State, not the patient). It’s no wonder 43% of physicians in 2012 said they would leave medicine within the next 5 years.

In summation: we are already grossly aware that Obamacare was shoved down our throats in 2010. Now, we can see how it: forces healthcare providers and businesses to comply with its 10,000+ regulations, invades our privacy (through EMR and bank account monitoring), forces us to buy health insurance against our will, raids our wallets (through increased debt and taxation), forces doctors out of business (through low reimbursements and absurd regulations), violates our religious freedom, and steals our power of personal decision-making… If that’s not all government control, I don’t know what is.

#1.  Obamacare Destroys the Best Healthcare System In The World

Sure. The American healthcare system DOES have some serious problems that need to be addressed.  From Physicians for Reform:

Two of the biggest problems include:

1. The bureaucracy of the current system (especially Medicare) drives inefficiency and increased spending, which leads to massive overuse and waste.

2. The third party payer systems (Medicare, Medicaid, AND private insurance) DO actually disconnect both doctors and patients the real cost of medical care– which leads to lack of restraint usually exercised in a free-market system.”

Yet, in spite of these two major problems, American hospitals and physicians STILL provide some the best healthcare in the world.

According to Hoover Institution Stanford University, the “Top Ten Reasons America Has the World’s Best Health Care System” are:

1. Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers.

2. Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians.

3. Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries.

4. Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Ta

5. Lower-income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians.

6. Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the United Kingdom.

7. People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed.

8. Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians.

9. Americans have better access to important new technologies such as medical imaging than do patients in Canada or Britain.

10. Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations.

In reality, Obamacare does not fix the problems we face in the American healthcare system. In fact, the 2,700 pages of legislation only seem to exacerbate and make the problems more complex. It also eliminates the possibility of fiscally responsible, patient-centered healthcare.

So, the only way to really fix our healthcare crisis is to repeal Obamacare, and start out fresh.

To be fair– if we criticize the current healthcare law, we must be willing to offer up solutions of our own. Below are the patient-centered solutions proposed by Physicians For Reform:

Patient-centered Solutions:

1. Stabilize Medicare for seniors. The Medicare cuts to physician reimbursement will severely compromise access for seniors unless a budget solution is found. Severe cuts can be prevented and paid for by fundamentally restructuring Medicaid. Converting Medicaid’s current system into a system of limited state block grants will save the federal government tens of billions of dollars annually. This saving can offset the massive Medicare cuts.
2. Let individuals purchase insurance with pre-tax dollars regardless of where they purchase insurance. This increases portability and lets individuals customize their policies.
3. Encourage low cost, high deductible plans combined with a Healthcare Savings Account (HAS) for patients who are best served by this model. This model encourages preventative medicine while reducing the cost of healthcare.
4. Let individuals and businesses purchase insurance across state lines to escape burdensome state regulations and mandates.
5. Create small business pools to spread risk and decrease health insurance costs.
6. Incentivize states to pass patient-centered medical malpractice reform.
7. Create state-run, high-risk pools for patients with chronic disease.
8. Put the Medicaid program on a budget and develop a sliding scale, premium support system to assist those who cannot afford health insurance. This accomplishes three things: 1. It enables states to created fixed Medicaid budgets, 2. It empowers individuals in this system to purchase private coverage that best suits their needs, and 3. It creates opportunity for individuals on Medicaid to exit the system by gradually increasing their income.
9. Put Medicare on a budget and restructure Medicare with a premium support system where seniors can choose from a variety of competing plans. The system is structured so that those who have fewer financial resources or more medical need receive more support. This reform empowers individuals to purchase the private coverage the best suits their needs. It would also dramatically reduce the tens of billions of dollars of Medicare fraud by giving seniors an incentive to get the best value for their healthcare dollar.