Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Obamacare's Essentials are Extortion



President Obama and his democratic surrogates love hyperbole.  Their demagoguery has gone beyond calling republicans baby killers and geriatric haters.  Now they’re equating their political rivals to terrorist, extortionist and hostage takers.   I thought Bill Clinton was a scumbag.  Barack Obama has taken scum to a whole new level.

If you want an example of extortion, take a look at Obamacare.  People are being forced to buy coverage that doesn’t pertain to their needs.  If you don’t buy a plan that includes the “10 Essentials” you’ll be penalized.  Oh, I’m sorry Justice Roberts; I mean “taxed.”

Here are the “10 Essentials”:

1. Ambulatory patient services
Definition: Care you receive without being admitted to a hospital – for example, at a clinic, physician’s office or same-day surgery center.
Who benefits? In 2008, 74 percent of U.S. adults had at least one ambulatory care visit.


2. Emergency services
Definition: Care for conditions which, if not immediately treated, could lead to serious disability or death.
Who benefits? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 21 percent of adults visited an emergency room in 2009. The average ER visit cost $1,265 in 2008.


3. Hospitalization
Definition: Care you receive as a patient in a hospital, such as room and board, care from doctors and nurses, and tests and drugs administered during your stay.
Who benefits? The CDC estimates 8 percent of people spent at least one night in a hospital in 2010. Based on 2009 national data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the average hospital stay was 4.6 days and the average cost was $9,173.


4. Maternity and newborn care
Definition: Care provided to women during pregnancy and during and after labor; care for newly born children
Who benefits? About 4 million babies are born each year in the U.S. The average cost for an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery at a hospital is about $7,600 (in 2004 dollars).


5. Mental health and substance use disorder services,
including behavioral health treatment
Definition: Care to evaluate, diagnose and treat mental health and substance abuse issues.
Who benefits? The average annual cost to treat someone with a mental health or substance abuse issue was $1,531 in 2007.


6. Prescription drugs
Definition: Drugs prescribed by a doctor to treat an acute illness, like an infection, or an ongoing condition, like high blood pressure.
Who benefits? According to the CDC, 48 percent of people reported using at least one prescription in the previous month in 2008. People using one or more prescriptions in 2004 spent an average of $1,037.


7. Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
Definition: Services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities or chronic conditions gain or recover mental and physical skills.
Who benefits? The range of care is diverse: fitting someone with an artificial limb, helping a child with a development disability participate at school, treating an athletic with a sports injury, helping a stroke victim regain speech skills and more. Looking only at Medicare beneficiaries in 2000 and considering only outpatient therapy services, 8.6 percent of people received care, and the average cost per person was $581.


8. Laboratory services
Definition: Testing blood, tissues, etc. from a patient to help a doctor diagnose a medical condition and monitor the effectiveness of treatment.
Who benefits? The American Clinical Laboratory Association estimates that lab tests enter into 70 percent of medical decisions, but account for less than 3 percent of health care spending.


9. Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
Definition: Preventive or wellness services include routine physicals, screening, and immunizations. Chronic disease management is an integrated approach to manage an ongoing condition, like asthma or diabetes.
Who benefits? According to a 2010 MetLife study, 45 percent of employer-provided benefit packages include a wellness program and a quarter include a disease-management program. MetLife’s 2009 study reported 57 percent of employees participated when a program was available to them. Employers usually offer these programs at no cost to employees, in hopes that the programs will reduce their healthcare cost over time. Wellness program providers often quote a savings of $3 for every $1 invested.


10. Pediatric services, including oral and vision care
Definition: The other nine essential benefits, but provided to kids. Of course, the mix of services and common conditions treated are quite different for different age groups



If you are a single male or an elderly couple, some of these “essentials” don't apply.  We are being forced to buy a coverage that is nonessential.  I ask who is extorting whom?  I believe the Democratic Party are the real criminals.






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