Suggestions for the Obama Library

On the heels of the Bush Library opening, I anticipate the opening of the future Obama Library and its focus on Affordable Care. My first suggestion for the next Presidential Library is the “oops” wing. The problem: The ill-thought-out rush to legislate approach that allows for money wasted that renders “oops” more a modus operandi rather than a glitch in the President’s executive conduct.

Consider the Establishment Grants, one way the Federal government incentivized states to get on the health exchange bandwagon as provided in the PPACA. As a measure of progress, the news was announced as state after state accepted the grants as a sign that indeed the nation was catching on and falling in line behind Obamacare. But states took the money even when they chose NOT TO PARTICIPATE in the health benefits exchanges and that money is gone because apparently REFUNDING money granted when the purpose of the grant was no longer applicable because they’d opted out, was a forgotten part of the legislation, a loophole if you would. Oops.

(Of course, the amounts of money are likely to seem small to our jaded ears accustomed to numbers in the billions and the trillions when it comes to Federal spending, after all, even the most spendthrift of states, Arizona, came in at under $10 million of Federal money wasted for an exchange they will not create.)

But let’s go onto our next exhibit. For instance, in January, we read about the employee whose plan offered him PPACA compliant coverage and instead charged so much more for premiums for family members (dependent coverage) that he can no longer afford to insure his family on his plan. In fact, the PPACA makes no requirements for compliance of plans regarding family member costs. Oops.

And our next exhibit. In April we read about how Aetna is going to put off Obamacare by offering to re-enroll plan members early, avoiding having to comply with Obamacare features for at least another year by allowing enrollment in 2013 before the 2014 start-date for Obamacare compliance. Oops.

And our next exhibit. In February, the Department of Labor confirmed that Public Health Service Act section 2707(b) that provides that cost-sharing (employee payments for coverage in the form of premiums) must be in line with the PPACA section 1302(c)(2) limiting how high a deductible can be that is offered by a plan (remember higher deductible less coverage) can be avoided by small group market health insurance.
Small group market health insurance does not have to offer a plan that complies with limitations on how high deductibles can be under a plan if they can’t reasonably afford to offer a compliant plan without raising deductibles. Oops.

And, Obamacare isn’t the only place where FedFun Money designed to help the American people did not. Consider the bailouts for banks that were intended to restart the flow of credit to consumers, but the bailout money contained no such requirements and banks did not ease credit, but, actually made it tougher. (See Congressional Research Service report of April 5, 2011) Oops.

And, as reported in the first week of May, 2013, the persistent unemployment rate among young adults is not improving, yet no connection has yet been made between giving amnesty to illegal aliens under the age of 30 and the implications of flooding a job market of already unemployed young adult US Citizens. Oops.

The weakness of the President’s vision, and here any individual suffering under his leadership is entitled to provide a reality check, is that he has not internalized the concept that every action has a reaction, especially when your use of the bully pulpit leaves large segments of the population compromised. Oops.