Patterico's Pontifications

10/5/2016

Bill Clinton: This ObamaCare Situation is “The Craziest Thing in the World”

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:28 am



Billy Boy is off the reservation on ObamaCare, and is suggesting (surprise, surprise!) that the answer may be a single-payer system:

Clinton unloaded on the Affordable Care Act during a campaign rally Monday afternoon in Michigan, a state where premium hikes are expected to be around 17 percent this fall.

“You’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have healthcare and then the people that are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half,” Clinton said.

“It’s the craziest thing in the world.”

He then called for more a government-driven system in which people could buy into Medicare and Medicaid. Without that option, Clinton said, the law “doesn’t make any sense” and “the insurance model doesn’t work here.”

We’ve always known their endgame is single payer. It’s nice to see them being so refreshingly honest about it, isn’t it? Oh wait — I guess if you’re running for president, refreshing honesty is not part of the program:

A spokesman for the former president defended the comments on Tuesday, painting them as being in tune with his wife’s overall healthcare message. The Democratic presidential nominee has called for ­ObamaCare to be adjusted around the edges but largely kept in place.

I, for one, look forward to a time when a Clinton is president, and President Clinton’s spouse is devoted to an overhaul of the health care system to provide for more government involvement.

I’m joking, of course — but you may have to be over 40 to get the joke.

38 Responses to “Bill Clinton: This ObamaCare Situation is “The Craziest Thing in the World””

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (bcf524)

  2. that was the goal, as morgen pointed out back in 2009-2010

    narciso (d1f714)

  3. Thanks, Billy, I needed that.

    — Do you plan to vote for Donald Trump or for Hillary Clinton?
    — No!

    nk (dbc370)

  4. We already have government run health care systems.

    200 veterans die waiting for care as troubled Phoenix VA builds new backlog

    This one is working just fine.

    And let’s not forget Medicaid. Just rearrange your financial situation, and you too may qualify. Between Food Stamps and subsidized housing you will discover that it is possible to live on the scraps handed out by our elite masters. Don’t plan on giving Christmas presents to your family, since those require real money, and limit your vacation plans to the metro bus schedule. If you happen to have some cash, reinforce the lock on your apartment. Welcome to the Great Society.

    BobStewartatHome (a52abe)

  5. Buying into Medicare or Medicaid doesn’t solve the falling-off-a-cliff problem he pointed out. (when your annual income passes a certain threshhold, you fall of a cliff, and no longer are eligible for a subsidy or as great a subsidy.)

    Bill Clinton didn’t mention the Medicaid clawback.

    I know somebody who got a $15,000 bill (which she’s basically ignored, and so has New York State) because she went back to work after being on Medicaid – she was told to go on Medicaid, and not warned of the possible consequences and didn’t take steps to cancel the Medicaid. She thought it was enough not to use it, but now it’s managed care.

    Sammy Finkelman (57e37d)

  6. Something tells me if Hillary wins the only thing Bill will be in charge of is raising more money.

    crazy (d3b449)

  7. The Democratic presidential nominee has called for ­ObamaCare to be adjusted around the edges but largely kept in place.

    No matter what she does, it’ll still be called Obamacare.

    Sammy Finkelman (57e37d)

  8. 6. Bill Clinton will be in charge of coverups.

    Sammy Finkelman (57e37d)

  9. The reason that “the people that are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half” is that Obama and the Democrats isolated the self-employed as the sacrificial group to be lumped into the pool with the never-insured and otherwise uninsurables.

    People who were covered at work, or through Medicare, were insulated from most of the effects. So they didn’t rise up. And the 5% of the population that’s self-employed? Sure, they complained mightily as they lost their doctors, had to travel 100 miles for a specialist and got dropped from their cancer treatments. But eff them said the other 95%, no skin off their nose.

    “I’m all right, Jack.”

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  10. falling-off-a-cliff

    The real problem is that the costs go up (way up) with age, but the subsidy cut-offs do not. So, they promise that no one will have to pay more than 7.5%, but if you are, say, 60, that is only true if you make under a certain amount. Go a dime over that and you suddenly pay 25% of you income in premiums.

    Example:

    A silver PPO plan might cost $1400/month for a 60yo couple. As long as they make less than $61K/year (before taxes and deductions), they get $800-$900 of that paid through a tax credit. If the make $61,001, they get $0 in tax subsidy, or rather a $10K tax bill on that extra dollar.

    BIG incentive to stay poor, unless they are going to make a BUNCH more money.

    It gets worse, though. Given the deductibles and out-of-pockets on a silver plan, if they get sick, they could have to pay upwards of $13K on top of that in co-pays and deductibles (more if they go off network).

    Let’s say they get that money out of their 401(k). Ooops, that’s extra income. Bad move. Bye-bye subsidy. So, a couple making $62K might end up paying $30,000 in medical expenses under the “Affordable Care Act” when before the act they would have paid half that for far better coverage.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  11. No matter what she does, it’ll still be called Obamacare.

    Only by people who are being kind.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  12. BTW, FAR fewer than 25 million more people are covered by Obamacare. Unless he’s counting the people paying the mandate tax, too.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  13. Kevin M (25bbee) — 10/5/2016 @ 8:19 am

    As long as they make less than $61K/year (before taxes and deductions),

    Before itemized deductions (Schedule A) or the standard deduction; and before personal exemptions. But not before the deductions that occur on the first page of Form 1040 before adjusted gross income.

    These would mainly be business losses shown on Schedule C, losses from the sale of business property reported on Form 4797 (which Donald Trump used one year to reduce his income by $1,356,097) capital gains losses (where Donald Trump reduced his income by the maximum $3,000 per year), real estate losses (where Donald Trump reduced his income by $15,818,562) and other losses, chiefly business losses carried over from previous years (which Donald Trump used to reduce his income by $909,459,915.)

    Also the deductible part of self-employment taxes; old fashioned IRAs and some other health or retirement plans; the penalty on early withdrawal from certificates of deposit; alimony; the student loan interest deduction; and some other minor deductions like educator expenses.

    BIG incentive to stay poor, unless they are going to make a BUNCH more money.

    Only if you know about it. This will hit most people by surprise, too late to do anything maybe except contribute to an IRA, unless maybe they are paying estimated taxes.

    It’s the second year that people would know about it.

    Let’s say they get that money out of their 401(k). Ooops, that’s extra income. Bad move. Bye-bye subsidy.

    Right. The proper course is to borrow against the 401(k) even if it costs you more money than the increase in value of the 401(k)

    Ted Cruz knew about things like that, because of his wife. Marco Rubio did not. (Ted Cruz borrowed against securities and didn’t sell them. Marco Rubio cashed out a bad retirement plan)

    Sammy Finkelman (57e37d)

  14. No matter what she does, it’ll still be called Obamacare.

    Kevin M (25bbee) — 10/5/2016 @ 8:22 am

    Only by people who are being kind. </blockquote. By Democrats, and everyone will go along, unless it gets another name.

    Hillary Clinton herself will not use the term "Obamacare" but she will say it's still the same act. She only improved it.

    Sammy Finkelman (57e37d)

  15. Does anyone remember HillaryCare

    They basically tried to copy the Canadian system including the major flaws and shortcomings of the Canadian system. The major difference was any steps taken by any medical professional to circumvent or alleviate such shortcomings was prohibited and often a criminal violation.

    Another trademark of HillaryCare was the rationing of health Care, including a provision barring women from obtaining a mamogram before age 50. So much for helping women.

    joe (debac0)

  16. fines on providers taking cash, were also part of the borsht,

    narciso (d1f714)

  17. I remember during the passage of the Patient “Protection” and “Affordable” Care Act, I had a friend who asked me why I opposed it. He wasn’t into politics directly, but absorbed the standard leftist memes floating around the entertainment industry & college without noticing them.
    At the time, the only objection I could really put into a coherent statement was the suspicion that it was part of a bait-and-switch that would result in single payer (after all, we had to pass the law to find out what was in it, so I couldn’t really object to specific problems). For a while after that, I regretted choosing that case to make, since I thought there was a good chance that leftists would move on to some other obsession instead of pushing further for socialist medicine. Turns out I was lucky — or, rather, “lucky”.

    CayleyGraph (353727)

  18. Democrats do this crap all the time. They manufacture a “problem” then design a remedy. Problem is the remedy doesn’t fix the problem it just makes new ones.

    Plus, a key element to ALL leftist policies is everyone must be involved whether they want to or not. Except of course their favored groups. We saw that with Obamacare exemptions like Congress, government employees, unions and others. For some reason either they actually believe they can make a plan that everybody wants or they don’t care they just like to force people “under penalty of law” cause they can. Either way it’s despotic strong arm tactics.

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  19. The only time democrats believe in freedom of choice is when it comes to abortion. Any other choice, not so much.

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  20. Federal subsidies to the states which elected to participate in the Medicaid expansion mandated by ACA begin to decline in 2017. The decline from 100% to 90% subsidy for those enrolled since the expansion will continue through 2020 so we can anticipate increased squealing by the Bluest Hells for the next three years. I have no idea how Ryan will behave towards Clinton but I really can’t see him allowing the perception of doormat behavior to continue.

    Rick Ballard (1aa129)

  21. #18 Rev Hoagie,

    The Lefties are like drug dealers. They give you free stuff to get you dependent, then you become a lifetime customer.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  22. the problem among other details, is you can’t afford to use your insurance, unless you want to incurr the kind of debt that red squaw assured us was unposssible in this setup,

    narciso (d1f714)

  23. #5, Sammy, this $15,000 bill (which will be paid some day, like the $1500 student loan, dating to 1987, collected by six U. S. Marshalls in Houston) is an example of how Democrat policies have the effect of trapping people in low paying jobs. And then they complain about the lack of upward mobility.

    The problem with all our new entitlement “rights” is that they always involve imposing an obligation to pay for them on someone else. Or, in this case, an obligation to pay for them yourself some time in the future if you should be so “lucky” as to land a real job.

    BobStewartatHome (a52abe)

  24. I wonder when people start loosing their houses to pay their Obamacare debts if the media will find that newsworthy. Or will it be like the 6 million homeless under Reagan and Bush 41 that magically disappeared overnight when BJ Clinton was elected. Poof! All gone!

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  25. lol, i recognize that reference

    lol (bb4ace)

  26. 1, 2, switcheroo

    lol (bb4ace)

  27. Yeah, remember the guy who was living on a sidewalk heating-system exhaust in Washington, D. C. during the winter of 1987-1988? He was very camera worthy during Reagan’s administration. He disappeared in 1993, when the economy was discovered to have magically recovered from the worst depression in fifty years the preceding spring of 1992. All the news that fits the narrative, and then some.

    BobStewartatHome (a52abe)

  28. Just like it was a crime, a crime I tell ya that 30 million had no health insurance. Something had to be done! So they decided that the best way to insure those 30 million people was to force everybody else into a new insurance plan. And now just look: there are 30 million people without health insurance (of course they won’t tell you that. that’s why you never see figures any more). It’s just a different 30 million. And the rest of us are paying through the nose for many coverage’s we DON’T WANT. As I mentioned upthread, the democrats thing maternity is good coverage so 80 year old men MUST have maternity. Gotta have mammograms so I HAVE to pay for a mammogram. Of course sex change is covered because….. gays. Plus, they get to cover all the illegals and all the moslem terrorists they can bring in and register to vote democrat before the election.

    We have entered the world of the corrupt banana republic. We just need to change the flag to a white star on a field of red.

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  29. ^but then there would be a fight about what color the star should be – not white, not yellow but black, brown or whatever the proposed new MENA category would be repped by.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  30. The first black president is jealous of the first black president.

    “Doctor Harris, do you concur?” – Frank Abagnale, Jr.,[Leonardo DiCaprio] ‘Catch Me If You Can” 2002

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  31. 23.#5, BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 10/5/2016 @ 10:11 am

    Sammy, this $15,000 bill (which will be paid some day, like the $1500 student loan, dating to 1987, collected by six U. S. Marshalls in Houston) is an example of how Democrat policies have the effect of trapping people in low paying jobs. And then they complain about the lack of upward mobility.

    Yes, it sometimes can. But this person is a registered nurse. She’s worked off and on. She took what amounted to or turned into a sabbatical. This was actually before Obamacare.

    The problem with all our new entitlement “rights” is that they always involve imposing an obligation to pay for them on someone else. Or, in this case, an obligation to pay for them yourself some time in the future if you should be so “lucky” as to land a real job.

    Medicaid seems to be actually a loan, in many respects, but they never tell anyone. The circumstances under which they can collect it is not clear to me. Winning the lottery is one.

    In this case she got a job with insurance but didn’t cancel the Medicaid – just didn’t use it. But Medicaid had become managed care, in which means a monthly premium is paid regardless of use.

    So this notice came from a collection agency saying:

    Amount Due to the City of New York
    $15,145.59 as of 02/18/2015

    All for applying for Medicaid on advice of New York State, and then getting a job with insurance, and maybe using it for awhile.

    Sammy Finkelman (57e37d)

  32. Leave it to Sammy to totally confuse a simple situation by bringing in 12 different little used tax forms. Yes, Sammy, self-employed people can take business deductions like “rent on business premises” or “cost of good sold” and other Trumpian tax dodges.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  33. Something tells me if Hillary wins the only thing Bill will be in charge of is raising more money.

    Ambassador to Bimbia.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  34. This is going to be a surreal four years.

    Healthcare is a natural for a democrat to attempt to build their legacy on. It makes a lot of people miserable to get those bills when their loved ones are sick. It does seem unfair on a gut level when bills that would buy nice cars are issued for life saving treatment, and the complaint that this is an injustice is incredibly appealing.

    The details about how we develop better remedies and incentivize research make the issue more grey to me, but I get the appeal.

    Bill Clinton, Obama, and Hillary have all tried it, and none of them were successful, but single payer is the perfect big government program. It gives the bureaucracy power over us, it instills dependency and obedience, and it’s just sheer power. A lot of folks in Europe who live with euthanasia and rationed care will tell me that the free market way is horrible.

    As fewer Americans work, something’s gotta give in so many areas of our society. Huge taxes and lavish benefits will make that fundamental problem worse, but the solution (hard work) is not appealing.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  35. well his lips are moving, the foundation will probably have a carousel, ‘death panel’ subsidiary’
    they have a craving for 70’s dystopian fiction, thx-1138 is a good start for them,

    narciso (d1f714)

  36. 32. All I was really saying was that some deductions, mostly business or retirement deductions, and half of the self-employment tax, are taken before adjusted gross income, so there are some deductions that can reduce incme below the threshhold. Only maybe Form 4797 is really little used. Only an IRA contribution can be made after the cose of the tax year.

    Sammy Finkelman (57e37d)

  37. Once single payer is in place, the government then wants to save money, and t save sit by doing less. Also medical progress slows down even more.

    Sammy Finkelman (57e37d)

  38. and half of the self-employment tax

    The half of the self-employment tax that is not considered income to an employee.

    Kevin M (25bbee)


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