Thanks Obamacare!

[Feathers and Fins]

Phil i will try to answer you best I can, First I opposed this "tax" and still believe it needs to be repealed and rethought out. If for no other reason than it was touted as NOT a Tax so we the people were lied to.

Now as to what I have already seen first hand. Employers who I personaly know were ready to start hiring upon its defeat by the SCOTUS now they are not! At least 50 jobs lost already that I know for sure of. I also knew several companies ready to give out raises for the first time in 5 years on its defeat, NOT now. So its negative impacts are already being seen and we still do not know for sure how much more negative impact it will have.

As a businessman I am concerned about the cost it will in the long run put on a business and no one knows that but they are certain it will which again will curtail pay raises and hiring. From people I talk to in AR many companies are now looking to going to pure sub-contractor work which will force people to become independant contractors where they will now by LAW be required to have this insurance ( tax ) where before they could have gotten on with company did the probation period and then gained insurance.

Now I agree that no person should be DQed for preexisting conditions that is a good part of the law. But the underlieing problem of why insurance is so expensive and will continue to rise while care decreases is Illegal Immigration and Dead Beats who dont pay their bills. I just got charged 21$ at the hospital for a asprin!!!! You know how many bottles I can get for that?

No one can even tell me where the money from the tax is going even politicians when asked it on Interviews do not know. They did not know it was a tax even and even the SCOTUS said it was a bad bill. I hope it gets repealed and one that is not a bizzillion pages long is written. They need to write one that leaves no one out for sure and they need to have it written so no price gouging can occur. An ER visit should be no more than a new patient visit plus procedures but those two should be governed by what it would be at a docs office or as out patient. The last thing that should be put in place is a law protecting doctors from Malpractice. Do those things and cost of insurance will be dramatically reduced and allow for companies to hire and give raises.

People do not understand how much this bill affects all of us in ways we do not even yet understand and that is a bad bill always.

[hank franklin]

I am on the employer side of Obamacare; one who had to issue rebate checks to employees. The rebate check Justin Spencer got was not because the insurance company is "making too much money" (common misconception) but because they did not spend enough of their money on health care, as opposed to administrative. It is a very complicated subject, and I actually have sympathy (believe it or not) for the insurers which are under new federal mandates and for which there is myriad and overlapping, and in some ways contradictory information. It is impossible to get clear information; the regulatory agencies issue technical bulletins but there is no actual true "guide" and most any sort of guidance ends with CONSULT YOUR ADVISORS.

So I agree with others that the law is a rather tremendous burden on employers, mostly because the regulatory is just impossible to "get." If you screw up the regulatory you face scrutiny from employees and the government, which is a no-win. The only way to comply is through expert assistance, which ain't cheap. We got it done but only after serious in-depth research and at the end I'm still not sure I did it right. At least I did it in good faith and I am small so I doubt the government regulators will come get me. But you never know.

Back to the rebates, in an end-around way you can say they are due to the insurers "making too much" money but this is one of myriad ways in which Obama is a gov't takeover, in that they set the profit margins now for insurers. If anything there is now a disincentive believe it or not for insurers to hold costs down, because if they "spend too little" they have to return it in rebates. It's called the 80/20 rule, you can google it if you want more info.

In my opinion Obamacare is a collosal mistake in large part because it pimps out the employers and insurers to meet government ends. Yes we are "private" but health insurance now is so completely regulated that we are basically just government pawns in our respective roles. And if the government doesn't like how we implement their law they can fine us for it. It's an incredible shell game. And yes a huge disincentive to business.

I am not an expert but I have researched it quite a bit and spoke to the brokers and insurers at length. And I don't think anyone feels the law will control costs. Most everyone expects costs to rise. How does this solve anything? It's an absolute crock.

So yes I would repeal Obamacare and replace it with something sensible. Like Romneycare!

[mic]

Phil i will try to answer you best I can, First I opposed this "tax" and still believe it needs to be repealed and rethought out. If for no other reason than it was touted as NOT a Tax so we the people were lied to.

Phil,

You bring a little common sense to this forum, but seriously...you didn't think this was a tax when it came out. It was collect by the IRS.

[mic]

How many of you business owners meet the minimum amount of employees that this really affects you? I think it is 50, but not sure.

Second, serious question, not smartass: if everyone is in the same boat won't competition work out the rest?

[jdmidwest]

I'm going to break one of my rules here... although you could argue this isn't politics. It's still a hot-bottom topic that may not last long. But I have a question to those who know about insurance. I don't see how an insurance co can stay in business when they're forced to allow for, not turn away people with pre existing sickness. Honestly, I don't know how any of this will work or is supposed to work in the future... have to buy insurance - fined if you don't - But right now you don't really need to buy it - just wait till you get sick and then buy it. When you're treated and it's paid for, drop the insurance till you're sick again. May be you won't be allowed to do that... I don't know. But forcing companies to take ppl who are already sick - sounds great but - nothing is free! If you don't now you will pay in the future somehow. Insurance companies have to make profits to pay off claims, pay employees, build up funds to that they're not put out of business when calamity happens. They'll get their monies somehow. I would think is would be by charging higher premiums. That means all of us pay - businesses, employees, self employed and I bet retirees too. Again, I am not up on this stuff... just asking common sense stuff. No emotion...

I have not read this thread past this post and you cover it in a nutshell. I really don't plan to go any further as we all know where this is heading.

A businessman will understand the workings of profit and loss, the layman won't. What you are seeing now is the fluff of the Obamacare. In about 4 years when the rest of it kicks in, you will see private insurance companies disappear and your insurance will be with the Federal Government. It is a tax, not a benefit.

It won't improve your healthcare. It will not fix the system. There is nothing in the Constitution of the United States that guarantees us the right to insurance coverage for all. It is a burden we should all have to face when we decide to provide for ourselves. It is not something that we should put a burden on our neighbors. I try to lead a healthy life and my doctor visits are next to nothing, and I pay out of my pocket for them when I need them.

I carry car insurance, home insurance, life insurance because I can and I pay out of pocket for it. With this line of reasoning, will there be Obama Home Insurance, Obama Car Insurance, Obama Life Insurance?

Go ahead, have some fun on this one.....

[Justin Spencer]

If you like giving people free rides with welfare and the like then go ahead and have no requirement for health care. We MUST require everyone to have health care insurance just like we require everyone to have car insurance.

I don't care if you call it a tax, or a big tittied blond we must require it. If we don't require it then we MUST refuse health care to those who can't pay for it an won't get insurance, and I don't want to watch people die on the sidewalk outside the ER. If you can pay for your i-phone, cable tv, internet, etc. then you can pay for health insurance, and MUST be required to do so. I am against the government regulation in many areas, and am a fiscal conservative, but this is pretty cut and dried. No one knows when an accident or heart attack might hit, and with our unhealthy lifestyles in this country at some time or another most people are going to have a bill in the tens of thousands of dollars that they can't pay out of pocket.

If you don't like it vote for the guy that came up with the same plan in Massachusetts, I would if he didn't say he was going to repeal Obamacare immediately, looks like Romney has already won Mo. anyway.

[fishinwrench]

. The well people then offset the cost of the sick people with the insurance companies.

The "well people" (insured people) provide the ins.co.'s with lots of money to invest in many many lucrative things. They can't live and prosper on the premiums they collect alone.

I'm sure that most of the money collected on premiums is invested wisely to assure an excellent return.

No worrys about insurance companies going broke......other than on paper.

[hank franklin]

We have got to have health care reform. Obamacare just isn't it.

I have had numerous conversations with people who would like to break out and start their own business, but they can't afford the health insurance. It used to be you could maybe retire early and float a bit until Medicare. Now no one in late 50's and early 60's can afford it. Costs are so ridiculous the private market can't do it. So these folks stay in their jobs, many of them just biding their time, until 65. The younger people that might move into their job are stuck. And so on down the line.

High health care costs are ruining the country. Obamacare does nothing to fix this. I would argue it makes it much, MUCH worse.

[Justin Spencer]

I'm saying Obamacare is a start, and tweak it from where it is. You know as well as I that if it gets repealed we won't see another health care bill for a long long time (look how long it took our first reform to get passed). Going back to how it was sure wasn't working either, my premiums went up 100% in the two years prior to Obamacare, and yes they continue to rise, but not quite as fast. Hank's arguement seems to me to be for more government regulation, or completely govt. run healthcare, which would no doubt bring down the cost, but would increase the federal deficit. If the solution was easy it would have already been done, lets take what we have, keep the good, get rid of the bad, but keep moving forward. If you repeal it we are back to square one, which seems to be fine with most republicans who seem to fear any kind of change.

Don't anyone ever call me a republican, and if you call me a democrat I will skin you alive. If the parties could ever blend their ideas and quit worrying about re-election we might actually get some change for the better!

[jdmidwest]

Just got a check back from my health insurance company for $411. They said they are only allowed to make so much profit, and the rest goes back to the customers due to the new health care regulations. Wondering if anyone else has seen this. Because my wife has a "pre-existing condition" that made coverage impossible before this plan went into effect I have always supported this, but now I do even more so. I think it needs re-worked in many areas, but when a politician states in his commercial that the first thing he will do is repeal obamacare, I immediately cross him off my list because then my wife no longer has coverage, and a big hospital bill could cost me my business. I think these candidates looking for the independant vote would be better served to not take such a hard line against a program that is already helping families like mine, and could be tweaked a little to help everybody. Not meant to start a big arguement, but I'd love to hear first hand accounts of good or bad from this plan, not what happened to your neighbors brothers dog, but what has happened directly to you. Second hand information means nothing, as I don't believe half the things my some of my closest friends tell me.

Not to be picking on you, but.

What if the Federal Government passed a decree that you can only make so much profit on your resort business. And you exceeded that amount. Would you mail a refund to all of your customers or expect to keep the profit?

What would be your incentive to increase your business?