THEY’RE ALL MAD
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ObamaCare As Alice In Wonderland
One need not fall down a rabbit hole to enter an Alice In Wonderland world. A flight into Dulles International provides an alternate route.Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, may not have anticipated modern-day Washington and ObamaCare, but it provides a pretty good framework for it. Mr. Carroll could not have dreamed of the progress and technological innovation that was ahead. However, he understood human nature and its stability over time makes his novel applicable to ObamaCare today.
On Friday President Obama made yet another change in his legislation. The changes are now coming so frequently that one can imagine ObamaCare pondering its own metamorphosis. In Carroll’s words:
“I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night. Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!” “How puzzling all these changes are! I’m never sure what I’m going to be, from one minute to another.”
The most recent Obama alteration declared that those whose policies were canceled would be exempted from the individual mandate. Instead, they would be allowed to buy catastrophic insurance from exchanges which would (try to) provide them. This change moved Dick Morris to lurch into a modern-day version of Lewis Carrol:In other words, if your policy was cancelled because it was not sufficiently comprehensive, you can buy one even less comprehensive and that will be okay.This type of logic has plagued the program from its beginning. The President may not have thought this important, but the Dutchess in Wonderland did:
“Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.”For those watching the desperate Washington shenanigans from afar, each change adds to the humor of the train wreck. That is not the case for those directly affected by it. Carroll provided proper words for what interacting with the website must be like:
“The Mad Hatter: “Would you like some [health insurance]?” Alice: “Yes…” The Mad Hatter: “We haven’t any and you’re too young.”Worse might be dealing with untrained plan navigators who try to be helpful (possibly while stealing your personal information). Does a conversation like the following seem plausible for this situation?
“Mad Hatter: Would you like a little more [health insurance]?Dick Morris has determined ObamaCare is a failure:
Alice: Well, I haven’t had any yet, so I can’t very well take more.
March Hare: Ah, you mean you can’t very well take less.
Mad Hatter: Yes. You can always take more than nothing.”
ObamaCare is dying from a lack of interest among the very people it was supposed to help. A New York Times survey showed that 77% of those who are currently uninsured do not approve of ObamaCare and have no intention of signing up.It is probable that Mr. Morris is correct, although in what increasingly appears to be a dictatorial state, Obama may continue to change rules and deadlines, keeping the plan alive long enough that a return to the former system becomes impossible.
With the president in full retreat and the individual mandate eroding, the end of ObamaCare is in sight!
Regarding the current condition of ObamaCare, Mr. Carroll provided wonderful words:
“If it had grown up, it would have made a dreadfully ugly child; but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.”Colorful, but I doubt there is enough lipstick in the world to make this pig appear handsome. Many of the original, ardent supporters of the program are now reaching the same conclusion reflected in this Carroll quote. Once that is realized, then the question of what was I thinking when I supported this monstrosity enters their mind.
Let Carroll answer this from the perspective of ObamaCare addressing its creators:
“You would have to be half mad to dream me up.”The political implications are now recognized. Those most at risk, the ones up for election in 2014, have already rebelled as much as they dare. Others will follow as families are disrupted with no coverage or coverage that is substantially inferior to what they had and at more expense.
The political nightmare will grow as the health care nightmare unfolds. The health care industry will slowly be emasculated:
- Medical providers will be lost despite promises otherwise.
- Massive new cancellations will occur as employers amend or drop their plans. The deferral of the employer mandate until after the 2014 election to mitigate the political impact will not help. Most employers will inform employees before the election. Early notice serves two purposes: (1) it provides necessary time to put replacement coverage in place; (2) it reminds employees what ObamaCare has cost them just in advance of an election. For most employers, the latter may be more important than the former.
- Finally, real structural damage to the industry will begin to appear. Bankruptcies in the insurance industry will only be avoided by taxpayer bailouts, reminding the public of the financial bailouts.
- Doctor shortages will occur. There is no solution for doctors retiring early other than returning to some form of slavery which prevents them from doing so. For many, the reduced income and bureaucracy will not be worth it.
- Brighter students will choose careers other than medicine. That will drive down the quality of physicians and healthcare over time.
- More immediately the quality of healthcare will diminish for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Driving rates down will mean fewer doctors take fewer of these patients. Typically the less talented doctors will be left with the lowest paying customer groups. Many doctors have already left traditional practice and set up concierge practices.
- The cutbacks in staff at major hospitals have already been announced and occurred. Soon closings and bankruptcies of hospitals will begin.
- The rationing of healthcare must take place immediately. As the supply of medical resources declines in reaction to price controls, this rationing will become more severe. “Death panels” will be employed from the very beginning. When prices no longer ration supply, then bureaucratic rules must.
‘ I meant no harm. I did not know what it would be like . . I did not know what I was doing . . If I had known, I would have torn her from their hands. You don’t know. You haven’t seen : it is so easy to talk when you don’t know. You madden yourself with words . . But when it is brought home to you ; when you see the thing you have done ; when it is blinding your eyes, stifling your nostrils, tearing your heart, then then O God, take away this sight from me ! ‘Some Democrats who pursued ObamaCare like the chaplain pursued Joan are now experiencing the same horror from their achievement. Others have no conscience, but are concerned about re-election. Regardless of the motive, most wish they had not gone along with this legislation.
No Democrat has been hurt more than President Obama. His lame duck second terms appears more like a dead duck. His credibility is gone. He openly lied to his supporters, committing repeated fraud in order to impose his Frankenstein monster. Lewis Carroll’s words describe his diminished condition:“You used to be much more…”muchier.” You’ve lost your muchness.”Memories of this transformative figure, a Messiah to some, now only serve to anger the dupes who held them. His incompetence and duplicity would be laughable if the harm inflicted was not so great. This shell of a man is about to be turned on by his own Party. Again, Carroll had the appropriate line:
“Off with [his] head!”
Sadly, the problems of ObamaCare have barely begun to surface. If left to play out, they will destroy the health care industry in this country. They will also destroy the Democrat Party. One outcome is welcome but not the other.The lesson Washington should learn but will not is simple:
“If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.”This lesson cannot be learned in Washington because
“We’re all mad here.”
