RUSH: There’s something fascinating happening with Obamacare out there, ladies and gentlemen. There’s a story in the New Republic, and the New Republic, of course, is a liberal left-wing journal of opinion. The headline of this story: “Obamacare in Red and Blue America.” The upshot of this is — and the New Republic is mad as they can be about this. People that live in red states are not signing up. People that live in red states are doing everything they can to avoid Obamacare. They’re not signing up. People in red states refuse to expand Medicare, and both of these refusals are thwarting and foiling Obamacare.
On the contrary, people that live in blue states are embracing it, to a degree. I mean, nobody is really fully embracing Obamacare, and that is the dirty little secret. But I just love this. This kind of thing encourages me, and it gives me faith that the people in this country, and particularly the states, are going to be our salvation. The states are going to be the brakes.
It used to be that the Senate put the brakes on things, and the Senate is now under Harry Reid’s leadership, the Senate is an embarrassment. The Senate is a total dereliction of its constitutional role and responsibility now. Well, not total, but it’s embarrassing what Harry Reid’s done. But the states, the people in the states are where the brakes are going to be applied, as much as they can be, anyway.
Here’s a pull quote: “The end result will almost surely be fewer people in Republican-leaning states getting health insurance. And this is a familiar pattern. As a general rule, income supports and public services in red states are a lot less generous than they are in the blue states. Conservatives consider this a virtue — because, among other things, it means those states can get away with lower taxes. ThatÂ’s certainly true. But exposing more people to financial hardship because of illness, making it harder for them to get medical care — those things extract a price, too.”
But there’s no guarantee those things are gonna happen. Let me break this down. What is happening in the red states where conservatives live, they are, if you want to use the word, living or imposing their values, and they are not supporting subsidies, income supports, and public services. They’re being a lot less generous. There’s a lot less welfare to able-bodied people than is taking place in the blue states. And the people in Republican states, red states, are happy. They think this is smart. They think this is politically virtuous. And it is. They’re right.
Reducing the role of government; reducing the size of government; empowering individuals; enhancing individual freedom. And, of course, you’re not reading about this because this is not favorable to the whole concept of Obamacare. So the Drive-Bys are not writing about it. The New Republic, for however they did it, and whatever made them aware of it, is reporting on it. And they’re not happy about it because they view it as conservatives, red states, Republicans undermining our young, courageous president trying to bring health care to the masses.
The left knows it can’t compete. They either have to force everybody onto Obamacare or, failing that, they have got to demonize the people who refuse to, who find a better way. And if that better way involves lower taxes that’s the greatest thing — well, it’s hard to say it’s the greatest. It’s one of the most powerful ways to undermine creeping liberalism, socialism is finding a way to cut taxes for some because that provides an alternative illustration of what life could be outside the bounds of control of the left, or a Democrat state or what have you. And the New Republic acknowledges that’s certainly true: “States can get away with lower taxes. But –” and this is where it gets serious for them. “– exposing more people to financial hardship because of illness, making it harder for them to get medical care — those things extract a price, too.”
New Republic is saying (summarized), “Okay, you conservatives. You’re not subsidizing people, and you’re not signing up for Obamacare. Well, you’re just putting yourselves at greater risk for bankruptcy when you do get sick! You’re exposing more people to financial hardship and bankruptcy because of illness, and that’s the price you’re going to pay,” and that’s not how these people look at it.
They’re obviously not obsessed with pessimism every day. They’re not running around living their lives like the left wants them to: In palpable fear that they’re one illness away from bankruptcy. They’re out living their lives, they’re trying to maintain control of their lives, and they’re doing what they can to resist this onslaught from Washington — and as I say: To the Drive-By Media, it’s a nonstory. Even if they’re aware of it, they wouldn’t report it, not this way.
The New Republic is trying to report it as really mean, really unfair, really selfish of these people in the red states. Let me give you another pull quote. “Of the ten states that have the higher percentages,” these are people signed up for Obamacare, “eight are solidly ‘blue,’ in the sense that they voted for the Democratic president in the last three presidential elections. Of the ten states that have the lowest percentages, six are solidly red. What does this mean exactly? Technology would appear to be the big factor.
“States running their own exchanges,” i.e., the red states that didn’t sign up for Obamacare, that don’t have Obamacare exchanges. They’re doing it themselves; they’re running it an entirely different way. “States running their own exchanges tended, with a few exceptions, to be more successful than states that are relying on HealthCare.gov, which had so many problems for the first two months.
“And the states running their own exchanges have tended to be blue states, because those are the states where officials were eager to implement the program. The one red state thatÂ’s gotten high enrollment is Kentucky, which has a Democratic governor who has been an outspoken Obamacare supporter.” So the red state story is that they’re not signing up. They’re not signing on to the whole concept of Obamacare — and, as such, their taxes are lower, their subsidies are lower, and this is what has the left irritated.
“[A] red-blue divide in health insurance coverage is going to remain, thanks to a more familiar and ultimately more significant distinction between the states. The architects of Obamacare assumed that all states would expand their Medicaid programs, so that all people with incomes below or just above the poverty line would qualify. But the Supreme Court in 2012 made it easier for states to opt out of the expansion and about half the states have done just that,” and then they’ve got a map here.
“You can see the pattern in the map below, which comes from the Advisory Board. And youÂ’ll notice it looks pretty similar to a map of the last presidential election… The end result will almost surely be fewer people in Republican-leaning states getting health insurance.” No. Getting Obamacare health insurance. So it’s just a nice little surprise, something a little uplifting in the news.
People in the red states, Republican states, are simply refusing to play, and in the process, showing a different way while thwarting Obamacare — which, in order for it to really succeed as the dream holds, has got to encompass everybody. Everybody has to be under the foot of Obamacare. If there are people who aren’t — who escape it, who take care of themselves, handle it themselves in a way that is much more attractive to what Obamacare is — that’s what the Regime can’t afford.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Tom in Schaumburg, Illinois, you’re next. It’s great to have you, sir. Hi.
CALLER: Thanks for taking my call, Rush. It’s a great day in America and thanks for your book Rush Revere. I have to tell you that on Christmas Day, my eight-year-old granddaughter not only read the entire book —
RUSH: Whoa.
CALLER: — later on that evening she read it out loud to my five-year-old grandson, and at that point I had to say, “Well, I’m doing my part to introduce them to the truth,” and thank you very much for that.
RUSH: Thank you. She’s eight years old and she’s reading it out loud.
CALLER: Well, her mother, my daughter, is a teacher with a master’s degree and they’re learning quite a bit at home as well as in school.
RUSH: That’s great. That’s great.
CALLER: So.
RUSH: Thank you so much.
CALLER: Thank you so much for that. The reason I called is to tell you, it is a great day in America because I believe Obamacare has been fixed. It’s been fixed by the doctors in Illinois and here’s what they’re starting to do. You come in for an appointment and you’re hit with a multipage questionnaire. None of questions have anything to do with your medical history. They have everything to do with your financial ability.
They want to know about the equity in your home as well as the equity in your car, what your family income is, and what condition are you really in — and the last page of the application, you’re faced with the following thing. You get to list all your major bank credit cards along with credit card numbers, expiration dates and the three digit code on the back of the card.
Then you have to sign up an agreement allowing the doctor to bill your credit card whatever amount of money Obamacare won’t pay of the bill for the treatment that you receive — and when you sign this, it has to be witnessed by the receptionist at the desk and then it is immediately notarized by the office manager, so it’s a done deal. If Obamacare wants to pay 40% for $150 visit, the other $110 goes right on your credit card.
RUSH: It’s amazing. How about that?
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We were up against it on time there with our last caller, Tom, but let me tell you what he was talking about because we have talked here on the program about how more and more doctors and hospitals are (in one way or another) opting out of Obamacare, and one of the things that more and more doctors are doing is demanding to be paid up front before you get any treatment, which is why all of the data that Sherman described that his doctor requested was financial.
The doctor wanted to know if his credit card, the patient’s credit card was charged, that it would be good, that the guy had the ability to pay. This is how — and, folks, this is only dynamic reaction to statism. So here comes Obama with his massive attempt to control health care, and what the left and a lot of government people never stop to figure is that some people are just not gonna be sheep and bow down and grab the ankles and do it.
They’re gonna find ways around it that will preserve their freedom, save them money — or, in this case, keep them in business. So cash for hire is one of the dynamic responses to Obamacare. If a doctor can create a patient clientele capable of paying on their own at least a portion of care that the Obamacare will not cover, and then get reimbursed for the rest, then they’ll do it. That’s why Tom was saying that it was a great day because Obamacare is over.
The doctors that he’s encountering in Illinois are already finding alternatives to it. Now, it’s a bit… Well, what’s the word? I tell you, it doesn’t mean that Obamacare is over and has been defeated by any stretch. Once the left sees the dynamic reaction, they immediately try to tamp it down and penalize it or stop it one way or the other. It’s a never-ending game and cycle.
What he was saying was that there are some doctors who say, “To hell with this,” and are finding alternatives and they’re getting around it. In other words, they’re mining for patients who will play ball that way, and if they have their own resources and are able to cover their own health care, they’ll do it, as a way of extricating themselves from this system that’s gonna make it bad for everybody. So that’s why he was optimistic about it.
Related Links