Why Congress is Hypocritical on “Obamacare”

8 July 2012

Global American Series

Why Congress is Hypocritical on “Obamacare”

An overlooked fact in the debate over the Affordable Care Act aka “Obamacare” that Justice John Roberts cast the deciding voted to uphold is this: The Congress reps voting against the act ALL HAVE GOVERNMENT HEALTH INSURANCE!  

If they are so opposed to giving Americans the same coverage they have, have you seen any of these Congress representatives “drop” their coverage in protest?  No. And you won’t see it. Congress representatives get coverage even if they show up with pre-existing conditions. They do not face losing their insurance if they hit the “lifetime maximum” of the policy.  And they don’t get canceled if they get a serious disease or cancer.

When I was laid off from my Fortune 500 job years ago, I lost my health insurance.  As an entrepreneur I went for more than a decade without any health insurance. It was scary.  When I did get it, the cost was enormous, and kept going UP every year.

Today I pay nearly $600 per month for coverage for just myself. To keep the premium from being even higher my deductible is $10,000!  People I know who work for the State of Texas government pay as little as $120 month for an entire family! The problem is that I can’t get into a “pool” to lower my premiums. The Affordable Care Act creates those pools.

The State of Texas currently has the highest number of uninsured citizens in the nation. The last legislature cut $5 billion from Medicaid to help cover the budget shortfall.  If you are single in Texas and make $4,000 or more a year, you make too much to get Medicaid!  Ironically, Massachusetts has the fewest number of uninsured, after passing “Romneycare” under Gov. Romney.  Under the Affordable Care Act, Texas would save billions it now spends on Medicaid and we would no longer be dead last in healthcare.

It is ironic that the man whose “Romneycare” was the model for Obamacare, would repeal it. It is hypocritical for Congressional reps that have government-paid health insurance to oppose the same benefits for their constituents.  

Conservatives worldwide, even in Canada and England, have embraced universal health care, making the United States the only industrialized country in the world without it. That puts our conservatives out of step with the world. I would welcome seeing those Congressional members try going without their government-paid health Insurance, like the 30 million Americans who don’t have coverage. 

My bet is that they are too scared to do without it – or too hypocritical.

Michael Fjetland

Global American Series

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