Hold the Mayo

July 16, 2009

When Men Were Free

Do you remember all of that talk from The One about the absolute necessity for a government insurance option to bring some competition and integrity to the insurance industry? (I know I just typed government, integrity and insurance in the same sentence. I did it with a straight face too!) Well there is a simple trick to winning any competition - be the person writing the rules.

Investor's Business Daily set out to do the work that most members of Congress would never dream of doing. They read the health care nationalization bill. This is how The One plans to compete with private health insurance:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

The One gets to finally keep a promise. He has said repeatedly that if you are happy with your present insurance you cold keep it. He never said what would happen if you didn't already have private insurance and wanted to get some. At that point, your only option would be the public option.

And apparently it's retroactive.

Consider my situation, which is similar to a rapidly growing segment of the population. I lost my job recently. So I have been busy with trying to find another job. A job that pays well and has great benefits.

Assume for a moment that I find this job. And that it comes with a beautiful office with a water view and medical insurance. Assume that I start this new job in August and the benefits start in October. If Congress passes the health care nationalization act before the end of the year, and The One signs it, my insurance is gone and I wind up on the public plan.

My enrollment would be after the first day of the year in which socialized medicine became law.

I do not want to be part of the socialized medicine system. EVER.

Closing his spech on socialized medicine Ronald Reagan said:

... one of these days we are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free.

That day may be coming soon.