Cheer Up, the Worst Is Yet to Come

Cheer up, the worst is yet to come.

Philander Chase Jones (1866-1939), African American journalist and humorist

In today’s Washington Post,  opinion writer Ed Rodgers gives six reasons ObamaCare will only get worse for Democrats.

Rodger's six reasons are:

1)      There will be more cancelled health insurance plans -“Every day, more and more Americans are receiving cancellation notices for plans they liked and wanted to keep.’

2)      If you like your doctor,  you can’t keep your doctor - “Soon the story will break through that a lot of Americans will be losing access to their doctors and will be forced to pick one approved by Obamacare.”

3)      Sticker shock - “Prices for health-care plans are not coming down for many voters”

4)      ObamaCare ads - “Throughout the 2014 campaign, Republicans will use footage of Democrats repeating the “big lie” in ads targeting Democrats.”

5)      Navigators - “There will be enough bad apples employed as navigators to supply plenty of scary anecdotes and weird encounters that will result in a steady ridicule of the overall program.”

6)       Security breaches -  “Security breaches will increase. There have already been so many Web site problems and so many unanswered questions about Web site security that it’s surprising administration officials are still claiming they are “confident” in the system. A big security breach is inevitable. It’s just a matter of time.”

To these six reasons, I would  add six more:

1)       ObamaCare will stay in the news right up to the run-up of the 2014 election -  Bad news is good news for the media, even if the bad news is wrong.  The media feed upon and grow fat on bad news.

2)       Most of those enrolling will sign up for Medicaid rather than private plans – The ratio is already about 9:1 on the state exchanges.   More Medicaid means more taxpayer expense, and more strain on state budgets. Besides,  only 30% of physicians now accept Medicaid patients, and that percentage will grow.

3)       Independent voters are most against ObamaCare – Historically independent voters decide elections.

4)       The young and healthy have minds of their own – They yung  may  decide what good for the government is not good for them. What is good for the goose may not be good for the gander.

5)       Uncertainty breeds contempt for incumbents – Enough said.

6)       Doctors and hospitals may not accept health exchange plans and vice versa - This mutual exclusion invites mayhem, and as the State Farm insurance ads say, mayhem can be disastrous for the uninsured, many of whom are now insured.

Tweet:  Today’s Medinnovation and Health Reform blog post gives 12 reasons why the worst may be yet to come for ObamaCare.