On October 21, Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo had one of the main guys who crafted the Obamacare legislation, Dr. Zeke Emanuel, brother of former White House Chief of Staff and Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel, to discuss the state of Obamacare and the public option that Obama and Clinton have floated this cycle.
For Clinton, that public option is to allow Americans who are 55 years of age or older to buy into Medicare and Medicaid at an affordable rate, a policy that’ll be dead on arrival should the GOP retain the House.
Dr. Emanuel conceded that the law is flawed, it could use some bipartisan tweaks, namely placing the onus on conservative Republicans to move on from their repeal position, which is when Bartiromo rehashed when former President Bill Clinton called Obamacare “the craziest thing in the world” earlier this month. Emanuel said that Bill “had a point,” but added that subsidies should be increased for Americans between 250 percent of the poverty line and 400 percent of the poverty line, roughly those earning $50,000-$100,000, in the individual market. He also said that most of these people get their health care through their employer—and that more of its costs have been shifted to the employee since the law was passed. To Emanuel, this means that employers have seen a reduction in health care costs.
Whatever the reason, the facts are that premiums are set to spike, health insurers continue to flee the markets, and 2017 looks like a lot a pain is going to hit Americans’ wallets. More Americans are opting to pay the penalty to remain uninsured because it’s more economical. The CBO projections for those who should be enrolled by this law were off by 24 million, and the co-ops that were established (23 originally) are all on the verge of total collapse. So, yeah—Obamacare is crazy, it’s unworkable, it’s too expensive, and it’s a total disaster. Oh, and of course, the liberal answer to all of this...is more government.
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Emanuel had placed blame on the bill's disastrous results on Republicans (not a single member voted for the final bill), or insinuated that insurers' withdrawal from the Obamacare market was politically motivated. Have you seen their balance sheets?
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