As reported, Representative Henry Waxman, D-CA is retiring. He stated that, “It’s time for someone else to have the chance to make his or her mark,” referring to his departure from Congress after many decades (look this up anywhere).
After a long career, however, like the President himself it seems that Representative Waxman inextricably has his own achievement record and perhaps his ego so intertwined with Obamacare that he cannot be truthful about the PPACA.
It is this ego, this sense of legacy that represents an enormous barrier to consumers, in addition to the fact that we have such legislation, in changing or modifying provisions that have and promise to do nothing more but increase out-of-pocket costs to consumers AND increase the hoops they must jump through to obtain covered “services” under health insurance policies.
As long as those taking credit for Obamacare, (though they’ve omitted credit due health insurance companies, the true creators of Obamacare, as you can read in, “Insurance Companies Created Obamacare,” in my 7/28/13 post, citing the 2008 AHIP proposal, http://conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com/2013/07/insurance-companies-created-obamacare.html) are still in positions of authority, with their same ego involvement, there can be no “fix” of Obamacare that will address the serious consumer threats created by the law.
Representative Waxman, in his February 2013 interview persisted in the view that the PPACA is, “A great achievement,” as you can see on a video of his interview with Madeleine Brand in February of 2013, “KCET SoCal Connected,” http://www.kcet.org/shows/socal_connected/content/interview/waxman-obamacare-important-landmark-piece-of-legislation.html.
In that interview, Representative Waxman declares that because of the Affordable Care Act, “EVERY [emphasis added] American has the security of knowing the can get health insurance when they’re sick,” (refer to the cite for the interview above). We KNOW that’s not true, the PPACA leaves the position of MANY unemployed Americans untouched in terms of an ability to obtain health insurance.
Regarding the “affordability,” of “Affordable Care,” the interviewer did mention that many health insurance companies raised their rates for the 2013 benefits year as much as 20 percent and she queried whether this might not be in preparation for Obamacare provisions taking effect in 2014.
Mr. Waxman glibly stated, “It may well be…” and launched into yet another “promise” that post-2014 insurance companies would have to justify such increases or provide refunds. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait until 2014 to see the underwhelming reality of this provision.
In my July 21, 2013 post, “How Obama Does It: Accurate Headlines (Sort of), http://conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-obama-does-it-accurate-headlines.html, I discussed the whitehouse.gov announcement, “A Refund from you Health Insurance Company? Thank the Affordable Care Act,” which disclosed that IF you received a refund it was about $100 per FAMILY, not exactly headline-worthy, and certainly grotesquely insufficient in terms of the increased costs facing many if not most Americans.
Representative Waxman has decided to retire. But as a supporter of Obamacare, and as evidenced by his misleading statements about the PPACA, which could be said to have passed and become law at least in part because of the misinformation that was put forth as well as the information put forth, he underscores that the chances of addressing provisions in the law that hurt consumers, is likely going to have to await the departure of all of those in government who have tied their legacies and their egos to Obamacare, either against it, or in the case of Rep. Waxman, those who are for it.
Supporters of Obamacare who can admit no failures, who cannot recognize the weaknesses already revealed and those unfolding, who adamantly defend the PPACA with the same blind zealotry that repels us from the equally “blind” Tea Party counterparts, shrieking, “Repeal,” cannot be the source of rescuing consumers from some of the law’s worst provisions.
As they say, recognizing the problem is the first step, (see explanations of the Rational Planning Model, including information on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_planning_model, which requires “defining the problem as the first step,” to solving a problem.
We cannot fix those aspects of Affordable Care about which we were and are being grievously misled until like Representative Waxman, those whose egos and legacies have become synonymous with Obamacare have departed from their positions, because they are unable to admit to the substantive problems with the law and because by thus denying recognition of the problems, also deny us the possibility of solutions.
