Thursday, November 14, 2013

Cash For Clunking Insurance Plans

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So, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn says that Obamacare is forcing everyone to buy a Ferrari even if they only want fords. 

Bullshit. 

Oh, was I supposed to surround that with "*cough*" to make it more subtle? Yeah, we'll, I'm tired of subtle. These idiots are about as subtle as a chainsaw so I'm just playing their game. 

To continue with their goofy analogy Obamacare isn't taking Fords off the road, they're making sure Ford and all of the other manufacturers can't sell you a car with cheesecloth seat belts, smog-belching engines and airbags full of confetti. It's no different than when the government mandated seat belts in the 60s, pollution controls in the 70s, airbags in the 80s and increased efficiency every so often since.  Every time that happened the auto companies swore it was the end of cars as we knew them, freedom, sunshine and chubby baby cheeks.  Of course it never played out that way and now is no different except that this time the insurance companies *want* Obamacare. It's just the GOP standing in the way, screaming of doom and gloom and death to Grandma. 

Don't get me wrong, the insurance companies are far from upstanding citizens here: They're sending out misleading (to put it mildly) letters to their members. Going back to cars for a moment it's as if Ford notified their customers that "we can't sell you the Pinto any more but wouldn't you look good in this lovely Lincoln Continental?" entirely ignoring the Focus that costs the same as (or less than) the Pinto but doesn't blow up when looked at cross-eyed.   It's Cash For Clunkers 2.0. 

If Oscar Meyer were selling selling hot dogs full of poison you'd want the government to stop them, right?  And if Oscar Mayer agreed but then sent letters to all of their customers saying "sorry, no more Arsenic dogs, so you should buy some delicious filet mignon" that would be absurd, wouldn't it? So why do we let the insurance companies pull the same racket while somehow becoming the victims?? 

Once again the GOP is completely full of crap and, as usual, they're hurting the very people they've convinced to elect them. It would be an impressive bit of salesmanship if it weren't, literally, a matter of life and death.  I know people who were denied insurance coverage or treatment and died because of it. How anyone in their right mind could stand in the way of broader medical care utterly befuddles me.  

But that's just it.  They're not in their right minds.  They're completely insane. Fortunately Obamacare covers that. Think they'll take advantage of it?  

Don't be absurd.