The Right Lane update 7.27.13

The pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, freedom and individual liberty

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington

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Obamacare is "Unworkable"

The wreck is coming, and it is the American people who are going to pay the price and the U.S. governors are bracing for the train wreck heading their way.  In reality, the Obama administration doesn't have a healthcare plan, the state governors are saying. The White House has a law with thousands of pages, but the closer we get to Oct. 1, the day government-mandated health-insurance exchanges are supposed to open, the more we see that the administration doesn't have a legitimate plan to successfully implement the law.

Fifty-five working days before the launch of the Obamacare health-insurance exchanges on Oct. 1, the administration published a 600-page final rule that employers, individuals and states are expected to follow in determining eligibility for millions of Americans, the governors continued. Rather than lending clarity to a troubled project, the guidelines only further complicated it.

That the White House has treated state officials with mistrust on the Obamacare issue. Perhaps that's because they can see that the federal government is repeating mistakes of the past and know that outcomes rarely reflect what Washington has promised.

The governors also attacked President Barack Obama's poor leadership on the issue. One of the big complaints by the governors is the guidance that President Obama has demonstrated to date has been inconsistent, arbitrary and frustrating — contributing further to the grave uncertainty that surrounds this law.

The governors also cited the various problems that have arisen since the healthcare law was passed in 2010. These include estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that 7 million Americans will lose their employer-based health insurance under Obamacare, and especially, that the law would now define full-time employment as 30 hours per week, versus the current 40.  The 40 hour work week is the backbone of the American middle class.

As governors they have seen the trouble the law poses for our own state economies. The most recent evidence: The government now says that it will not verify the eligibility of individuals who apply for subsidized insurance on the healthcare exchanges.

Governors have first-hand experience with implementing public-assistance programs. they know how important it is to care for the most vulnerable citizens and to ensure that people are healthy and able to work.  They also know that a one-size-fits-all approach like Obamacare simply doesn't work.  It will only creates new problems and inequalities. That's why if you look at all 50 states, you'll see 50 unique ways of handling Medicaid.

This law was a bad idea from the start, and the American public never supported it. The Obama team, taking advantage of an unusual two-year window when Democrats controlled all branches of government, foisted upon the country a liberal hodgepodge of unworkable notions that will wreak havoc on American healthcare.

Delaying implementation of Obamacare, not just the employer mandate, is a reasonable idea. But an even better one would be a complete repeal.