Obamacare ‘kills’, We planned to take a least a 24-hour break from posting about Michele Bachmann... but then we saw video of remarks she made on the House floor today on the third anniversary of Obamacare's passage.
It's no secret Michele hates Obamacare as if it were Satan incarnate. But we were still taken aback when we heard her express concern that it "literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens."
Here's a transcript of Bachmann's remarks, followed by the raw video:
The American people, especially vulnerable women, vulnerable children, vulnerable senior citizens, now get to pay more and get less. That's why we're here because we're saying let's repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. Let's not do that! Let's love people, let's care about people. Let's repeal it now while we can.
The Hill puts Bachmann's floor speech in a charitable context:
Bachmann explained that under the healthcare law that many call "Obamacare," employers have an option of providing health insurance only to their employees, and not their families. She said women are two and a half times more likely to rely on their spouses for health insurance compared to men, and said business decisions to stop insuring families will fall hardest on women and their children.
She then said women and children who find themselves without health insurance would have trouble buying insurance at the state insurance exchanges.
"They can't go to a healthcare exchange because the healthcare exchange subsidies won't be available to the wife and children because the husband is covered," she said. "It's a bad, sneaky deal to pull on American women and on their children."
Bachmann added that women in this situation who lose their jobs would still be required to by insurance or face a fine under the law. In many cases, she said, they will find government-approved insurance plans too expensive, even though they do not qualify for Medicaid.
"Where are poor women supposed to go to buy health insurance they can afford? Not in the Obamacare regime," she said. "Where is she supposed to go when her very sick child has lost his health insurance from the employer that his daddy provided for him because his daddy had a job, his daddy had health insurance?"
But a "Quick look at Obama's health care law" published today by the AP takes a more sober look at Obamacare and the impact it will have when it rolls out in earnest later this year. Here's an excerpt:
-- It will move the U.S. closer to other industrialized nations that provide health care for all. About 30 million uninsured Americans are eventually to gain coverage, at an estimated cost of $1.3 trillion from 2013-2023. Insurers won't be able to turn away people with health problems.
-- The law mandates that most individuals have health insurance, provides subsidies to help pay premiums and penalizes people who can afford coverage but don't get it. It imposes penalties on businesses with 50 or more fulltime workers that don't offer coverage.
-- Health insurance exchanges set up in each state will offer subsidized private health plans to middle-class households. Medicaid, the government's health insurance for the poor, will be expanded to cover low-income people making up to about $15,400 for an individual. States can opt out of the Medicaid expansion.
In other words, Bachmann probably deserves another set of Pinocchios for claiming that Obamacare will "literally kill" anyone.
It's no secret Michele hates Obamacare as if it were Satan incarnate. But we were still taken aback when we heard her express concern that it "literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens."
Here's a transcript of Bachmann's remarks, followed by the raw video:
The American people, especially vulnerable women, vulnerable children, vulnerable senior citizens, now get to pay more and get less. That's why we're here because we're saying let's repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. Let's not do that! Let's love people, let's care about people. Let's repeal it now while we can.
The Hill puts Bachmann's floor speech in a charitable context:
Bachmann explained that under the healthcare law that many call "Obamacare," employers have an option of providing health insurance only to their employees, and not their families. She said women are two and a half times more likely to rely on their spouses for health insurance compared to men, and said business decisions to stop insuring families will fall hardest on women and their children.
She then said women and children who find themselves without health insurance would have trouble buying insurance at the state insurance exchanges.
"They can't go to a healthcare exchange because the healthcare exchange subsidies won't be available to the wife and children because the husband is covered," she said. "It's a bad, sneaky deal to pull on American women and on their children."
Bachmann added that women in this situation who lose their jobs would still be required to by insurance or face a fine under the law. In many cases, she said, they will find government-approved insurance plans too expensive, even though they do not qualify for Medicaid.
"Where are poor women supposed to go to buy health insurance they can afford? Not in the Obamacare regime," she said. "Where is she supposed to go when her very sick child has lost his health insurance from the employer that his daddy provided for him because his daddy had a job, his daddy had health insurance?"
But a "Quick look at Obama's health care law" published today by the AP takes a more sober look at Obamacare and the impact it will have when it rolls out in earnest later this year. Here's an excerpt:
-- It will move the U.S. closer to other industrialized nations that provide health care for all. About 30 million uninsured Americans are eventually to gain coverage, at an estimated cost of $1.3 trillion from 2013-2023. Insurers won't be able to turn away people with health problems.
-- The law mandates that most individuals have health insurance, provides subsidies to help pay premiums and penalizes people who can afford coverage but don't get it. It imposes penalties on businesses with 50 or more fulltime workers that don't offer coverage.
-- Health insurance exchanges set up in each state will offer subsidized private health plans to middle-class households. Medicaid, the government's health insurance for the poor, will be expanded to cover low-income people making up to about $15,400 for an individual. States can opt out of the Medicaid expansion.
In other words, Bachmann probably deserves another set of Pinocchios for claiming that Obamacare will "literally kill" anyone.
