Look it up. Donald Sensing did, and he just today wrote a brilliant piece about the man who defined the term ‘fascism,’ Benito Mussolini, and how his national political system, in which the all-powerful state determines all value, what is moral, and who will legally conduct business and who will not, is now the system under which we live. This has been made definitive by our federal government and recently confirmed by the mayors of our largest cities, including New York and Chicago. Look it up.
After yesterday, which was called by PJ Media The Day Freedom of Conscience Died in America, we now live in a country where a Chicago alderman is completely unashamed to tell the respected Catholic Archbishop of his city that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to morals – that the government knows better what is right and good and what’s in the Bible and what Jesus would say. Look it up. That exchange just happened today.
After yesterday, my family will go without the benefit of medical insurance, a choice that will incur an unknown but probably large financial penalty. We have no choice, because the state that we did not vote to empower in this way has demanded that we pay to kill innocent babies. In that way, we are now not much different than Communist China. We are still not exactly like China, but you know what we ARE exactly like? We are now EXACTLY like the state that Benito Mussolini envisioned. Look it up. Read about it here. And don’t tell me that we are nothing like a fascist state because we have free elections. They have “free” elections in North Korea, too. And besides, at a time where so much of our Constitution has been literally rendered null and void, and an unprecedented series of stealth executive orders gives the Executive Branch nearly total control over the country for any reason, are you certain that there will be elections this fall? Don’t hold your breath. Look it up.
For God, Family, and Country 
It’s almost more than my brain can compartmentalize.
It’s not fascism when we do it
Stuff like this makes my RLS kick into overdrive.
Oh, you’re baaaad, Barn. 😀
Hey, just to let readers know, I realize that this post was a little over the top and probably an irritating over-reaction to events. I certainly do not intend to coerce or “guilt” anybody else into doing without medical insurance. The insurance situation right now is mind-numbingly complicated, and that’s something that each of us needs to figure out for themselves.
If I could find one I’d sign up for a catastrophic and hospital only plan. I used to have such a policy (the premiums were really cheap) but they kept raising the deductible to the point where it became too big a gamble.
That’s always the problem with insurance. If there’s always some technicality why it doesn’t cover you when you need it, or if the deductible is too high that you can’t pay it in an emergency, or (as often happens with catastrophic coverage for hurricanes and such), you can’t trust the company to pay its obligations when it hits the fan, you might as well not have it.
Recent horror story: I’ve been paying disability premiums my whole career, and when I actually needed short-term-disability for 2 months a few years ago, the insurance company, Mutual of Omaha (which is respectable) had an investigator write up a report that cost many times the few thousand bucks they owed me, where they made up technicalities on the spot about why they didn’t believe my doctor, and wouldn’t pay. Since the 2 months happened to be over Christmas, our kids had a nice lesson in corporate greed, rather than presents. I was not amused, but I ate the loss, and it put a bad taste in my mouth toward insurance in general.
I deal with insurance companies at work. The yearly $ maximum dental benefits for many is the same as it has been for 3+ decades (~$1500). That’s almost worthless if you need some serious work done. I’m pretty sure their premiums have escalated considerably in that time. I know my overhead has not stood still.
Regarding medical, my guess is the gov’t is equally complicit in the drastic hike in premiums. We pay for those that show up at the hospital w/o insurance. We might even be paying for the insurance companies kicking back to the gov’t for Medicaid. It should be like auto insurance. 15 minutes and the gecko has got you covered.
“15 minutes and the gecko has got you covered” – Haha! 🙂
Today we live in a country where it is near impossible to live with a health condition without some sort of health insurance. I would like to pay out of pocket per visit if I could. But like most Americans, I cannot afford that. That is how “they” make their money. “They” know that. so first of all “they” have control over you by your pocket and health. Now “they” arenow making the next move. “They” think the time is right. Time to take it to the next level. There is pretty much nothing you can do about it. “They” know that! Now their true agenda comes out. Even though some people know about their agenda, “they” are banking on the idea that once in effect, “Obamacare” will ease the tension and most people will say that it was’nt so bad after all. Even though your freedoms are taken away. You feed the horde and the horde will love you. as long as you feed the horde, you can sneak in your socialism. Once we wake up, its too late.
Now, “Obamacare” I believe may eventually cause other health insurances to cave in. There will be no competition. So I will be forced eventually to use it. I do not hold any grudges against anyone who uses this insurance even though they know that it is socialism at its best. The government knows how to control your life, even the ones who don’t like it. Sorry fer the “ramblin’ on”. Just a quick thought on my part.
Good thoughts, Knight. Maybe Barn has additional info on this, but my experience is that there’s a burgeoning “black market” out there in cash medical services. While I was briefly unemployed a few years ago, I paid cash for some medical tests so that I could get fresh insurance, and I was shocked at how affordable the “cash rates” are. You get a big discount for paying cash, I suspect because the doctors like to actually get paid now instead of a year later after fighting with the insurance company. Will this continue after Obamacare? Who knows, but if it flourished in the USSR, I bet it will continue here as well.
Good thought and point.
Hey guys,
Why is it absolutely necessary for you to have medical insurance in your country instead of having the freedom to choose to pay cash?
It’s not, actually, and until recently many people have gone without. But we have a precarious situation in our country. We have resisted building a national healthcare system, which is a good thing in my view because of how inefficient those tend to be. In the past, medical care was fairly affordable, so the lack of a safety net was not an issue. But the technology boom of the last few decades, in combination with an explosion of tort law abuse caused even simple care to become obscenely expensive. Most people did not care because their insurance covered the expense, but the insurance premiums have become too expensive to be affordable, so we’re in a bit of a crisis. Hence all the argument about Obamacare. The most controversial aspect of O-Care is that it enforces a “mandate” requiring everyone, except friends of Obama, like Union members, members of Congress, Muslims, to carry insurance. So, we no longer have the option of paying cash, unless we pay a penalty/tax. Also, there’s the inconvenient matter that the insurance companies are required to collect a fee from every man, woman and child that will go into a fund to pay for free abortions, abortion pills and other birth control, so that no one can escape the guilt of paying for the murder of innocent children. Good plan, huh?
Wickid-good! 👿
Thanks for explaining, Grunt. I find it odd that people can’t have the final authority over their own healthcare.
It’s extremely odd, and many people are deeply unhappy about that. I believe that a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Obamacare, which will ultimately have the effect of forcing people to give up their right to direct their own healthcare, was a grave misreading of our constitution, just as the Roe v. Wade decision was years ago.
Costs have skyrocketed for a few reasons. My opinion the least is the cost of
technology or the doctors.
However gov’t intervention in the functions of insurance and hospitals is the most direct cause. Hospitals are forced to provide care to uninsured patients (especially emergencies – both real and those of convenience). In order to offset this they nickel and dime (and overcharge) insurance companies to maximize payments. It is supposedly illegal to have different fees for insured and uninsured patients (though it is legal for insurance companies to each have a different reimbursement schedule). So uninsured patients are not allowed (according to the laws I know) to get a discount for paying cash. I have a strong suspicion the gov’t gets a kickback from both hospitals and insurance companies for doing business. The end result is hospital costs are maximized. Insurance companies withhold or reduce policy benefits where possible. Insured patients (or their employers) pay higher premiums. Private (uninsured) patients are getting squeezed out of existence.
Good points. I think the doctors are getting screwed, that’s for sure.
I once got a contract and conditions from an insurance company that thought I was an MD. I wish I kept it. The conditions stated a multiplier system is used to calculate insurance payments to the contracted doctor. The general idea was if you referred too many patients to specialists they reduced your multiplier (and you would get less $). If you kept being a bad boy they would dump your ass altogether. This is all based on the insurance company bean counters, not patient needs.