With respect to the great Suzanne Somers, I think her column in the Wall Street Journal is a little behind the curve. A few years back, I too was retailing horror stories from Canadian (and British) health care — wait times, C difficile, etc. But once Nancy Pelosi & Co passed the bill and we found out what was in it, it seemed obvious that Obamacare would be far worse than the Canadian or any other First World system. The sheer punitive relish of the law is deeply strange in a supposedly free society. NBC News reports:
President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.
Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent.
Now they tell us.
This is where Miss Somers understates the horrors to come. The consolation of government health care in Canada is a one-size-fits-all mediocrity. Obamacare, by contrast, offers no-size-fits-you:
George Schwab, 62, of North Carolina, said he was “perfectly happy” with his plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which also insured his wife for a $228 monthly premium. But this past September, he was surprised to receive a letter saying his policy was no longer available. The “comparable” plan the insurance company offered him carried a $1,208 monthly premium and a $5,500 deductible.
And the best option he’s found on the exchange so far offered a 415 percent jump in premium, to $948 a month.
“The deductible is less,” he said, “But the plan doesn’t meet my needs. It’s unaffordable.”
The president of the United States knew three years ago that this would happen to Mr. and Mrs. Schwab. But he went ahead and did it to them anyway, and added insult to injury by lying about it all the way. The genius Ivy League technocrats that a formerly self-governing citizenry apparently prefer to be ruled by have bet they can get away with wrecking the lives of millions of Americans whose only mistake was to make prudent and sensible arrangements for their own health-care needs. At some point, Mr. Schwab and his fellow citizens need to prove them wrong about that.