presidential paradigms
“Affordable” Care Act?
Charles Wilfong, President, West Virginia Farm Bureau
The effects of the ironically
named “Affordable Care
Act”, or Obamacare, are upon
us. As of January 1, 2014,
everyone must, by law, have
health insurance that meets
government standards, or
pay a penalty to the federal
government. The penalties will
be a percentage of your income and will be collected
by the IRS. Thousands of new employees are being
hired by the IRS for this purpose.
President Obama has not been truthful about
Obamacare. He said most people would save $2500
per year through this program. He said repeatedly and
emphatically that if we liked our current insurance
coverage and our doctors, we could keep them. In
reality, insurance rates and deductibles will be much
higher, and estimates are now that well over 100
million people will lose their current coverage and in
many cases will not be able to keep their choice of
doctors.
You and I have to abide by these Obamacare
rules, and yet the President, Congress, congressional
staffers and some unions and businesses that have
supported Obama are excluded.
A lot of attention regarding Obamacare has been
focused on the total meltdown of the Healthcare.
gov website – where we were all supposed to go to
shop the so-called “marketplace” for health insurance
coverage. “Marketplace” is a misleading term here in
West Virginia – as there is only one provider – Blue
Cross Blue Shield. Shopping won’t take long for us.
But a much