Obamacare.

The good news continues to roll in on the positive benefits the ACA has had -- uninsured down by half, affordability up.

So, while visiting The Heritage Foundation website (mentioned in the Koch book I'm reading) and being presented with the opportunity to download a free anti-Obamacare e-book called "A Guide to a Better Alternative to Obamacare" I just had to do it.  I'll probably regret the spam later.

So far it's devoid of facts or plans but heavy on rhetoric and non sequitur.  Example:

Quote :

Make tax treatment fair to all�
Obamacare imposes new taxes that increase burdens on virtually all taxpayers� Its 40% tax on so-called Cadillac health insurance plans is but one of 18 separate tax increases included in the law� According to the Congressional Budget O ce and the Joint Committee on Taxation, these taxes will raise $771 billion in revenue from 2013 to 2022�
True health care reform should equalize the tax treatment of health insurance, without raising new revenues� This would remove a major obstacle that discourages individuals from buying and holding their own health insurance policy for years and taking that coverage from job to job�
All Americans purchasing health coverage—whether through an employer or on their own—should receive the same tax break if necessary� According to the Congressional Budget O ce, reforming the tax treatment of health insurance “would provide stronger incentives for enrollees to weigh the expected bene ts and costs of policies” when buying insurance, thus helping to reduce costs�

Non sequitur indeed.

Quote :

Sensible Medicare reform�
Congress should provide seniors with a generous contribution toward the purchase of a Medicare plan of their choosing� Seniors who choose a plan costing less than the subsidy would pay less and pocket the saving, while seniors who choose a plan costing more than the subsidy would pay the di erence in price.

This from the organization that says:

Quote :

The Heritage Foundation's team of more than 200 scholars, researchers, and policy experts produce resources like this to promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. Your tax-deductible donation today will help get resources like this one into the hands of more of your fellow Americans.

Jesus Christ, how does one even parse this nonsense?

Quote :

Take steps to reform Medicaid�
True reform would mainstream low-income Medicaid bene ciaries into private health insurance that they can own and keep, lessening the burden on states to focus on providing more patient-centered care to the truly vulnerable�
States should begin moving toward more personalized care and include strong incentives for personal responsibility� Congress could take steps to encourage states to adopt premium assistance� A block grant or a per capita spending cap proposal would trade additional exibility for states in exchange for a xed spending allotment from Washington�

Huh, the "book" is only sixteen pages, with 2 or 3 of those pages being taken up by graphics, and the rest including half-page photos on each. Total text is under a thousand words.

There are no dollar figures anywhere, no concrete proposals, no details. It's all "repeal Obamacare" and start over.

Of the fourteen pictures, the number of patients shown who are not white = zero.

Seems to me, Obamacare was designed to address the issues of patients who are not white, not able to "move their insurance from job to job," and not healthy.

Quote :

Take steps to reform Medicaid�
True reform would mainstream low-income Medicaid bene ciaries into private health insurance that they can own and keep, lessening the burden on states to focus on providing more patient-centered care to the truly vulnerable�

Since Medicaid is intended to handle those "beneficiaries" (patients or customers seems more appropriate) that the insurance companies refuse to deal with, the only way to "reform Medicaid" involves forcing the insurance companies to do stuff they won't do if given a choice. But doing that is heresy for all of the conservative and libertarian nutcases.

Yeah, the whole thrust of the "booklet" (it's more like a memo) is that everything should be voluntary. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that the main problem with the old system, only sick people bought insurance so it was ungodly expensive?

The spam has already begun:

Heritage Foundation wrote:

The Heritage Foundation
Dear Robert,

Thank you for signing up to receive e-mails from The Heritage Foundation.

You're now signed up to receive the latest policy research, news, and analysis from America’s foremost conservative policy experts.

Every Saturday, you’ll get a roundup of the most popular stories on The Daily Signal, including stories the mainstream media won't tell you about. And I’ll periodically send you other updates about how Heritage is advancing your conservative principles in Washington and around the country.

You can always manage your subscription from the bottom of every message if you want to make any changes.

All of us at Heritage are thankful to have you at our side.

Sincerely,

Jim
Jim DeMint
President