Thursday, December 24, 2009

Now, it can be told

With Obamacare nearing inevitability, Big Media can finally let down it’s guard and start to report on what’s really in the bill – items and features of Obamacare which the blogosphere has been doing for months.

This from the AP yesterday:

Americans will feel the pain before the gain from the health care overhaul Democrats are close to pushing through Congress.

Proposed taxes and fees on upper-income earners, insurers, even tanning parlors, take effect quickly. So would Medicare cuts.

Benefits, such as subsidies for lower middle-income households, consumer protections for all, eliminating the prescription coverage gap for seniors, come gradually.

"There's going to be an expectations gap, no question about that," said Drew Altman, president of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "People are going to see their premiums and out-of-pocket costs go up before the tangible benefits kick in."

Thanks for sharing that, guys. And doesn't "expectation gap" kind of sum up this entire administration?

To be precise, we will start paying for this colossal mistake in 2010 but won’t see any appreciable decline in our health, err…. won’t see any of the benefits until 2014 and at a trickle at that. The chart below from the CBO documents the crappy healthcare ramp-up. Please feel free to click and enlarge to be sufficiently appalled.

4 comments:

K T Cat said...

Looks like they bent the curve allright!

Harrison said...

Paying for it now and getting it later is how they can tout the "savings" of the thing. Of course, once we "enjoy" the benefits things go into the red very fast.

SarahB said...

Expectation Gap...favorite new euphemism.

Dean said...

Sarah,
I agree and you can count on it being flogged to death right here.