The Affordable Care Act eliminates New Jersey's only affordable health care plan

Somebody has to pay for Obamacare. And that somebody is The Poor. About 106,000 of them, to be exact.

Well sure. Free healthcare ain't free. Even if they try calling it "affordable," guess what? It's not.

About 106,000 people in the Garden State are insured under what are known as "basic and essential," or B&E, health care plans, according to state data. Since 2003, all health insurers that operate in New Jersey's individual health market have been required sell these plans which, as their name implies, offer only a thin layer of coverage for things such as doctor's office visits and procedures that don't involve a hospital stay.

Catastrophic care. Not a bad choice if you're young and healthy.

But while B&E plans were meant to help young families get coverage and stanch the drop of enrollment in the individual health market, their relatively low price — as little as a couple hundred dollars a month for some people — made them the most popular option for those who don't get insurance through an employer or a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid. About 71 percent of those covered by the individual health market have a B&E plan.

They're low cost and wildly popular. So naturally they have to be eliminated.

Silly consumer, you can't choose the health insurance that's best for you. The government will dictate what you can buy. And who cares if it's 3 or 4 times as expensive as what you've got now? You'll get free birth control!

Obamacare — you get less than half the value at more than twice the price!

Oh, but, wait, B&E plans don't pay for prenatal care!

The most basic B&E plan, for example, provides each covered person just $600 for wellness services; $700 for physician's visits for injuries and illnesses; and $500 for diagnostic tests, immunizations and other procedures done outside a hospital. On top of that, there's no coverage for prenatal care, chemotherapy and ambulance services, among other things.

Sacre bleu! Young healthy kids don't use chemotherapy. And senior citizens aren't clamoring for prenatal care. Clearly the government needs to step in and re-educate them before they make more rational choices.

Like military intelligence, the "Affordable Care Act" will go down in history as one of the greatest oxymorons of all time. Alas it's too late for all you Obama voters to learn what I've been saying all along: free stuff is expensive.

Posted at 09:09 by Chris Wysocki   [/obamacare]   Comments | Perm Link |
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