Monday, March 7, 2011

Republicans Decide to Not enforce Laws they Don’t Like. Starts with Health Care Mandates.

Isn’t it funny how conservatives are demanding Obama enforce Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (the law is still in effect, but the justice department won’t challenge it in court), but can freely ignore legal mandates they don’t like. They can do it because their voter base’s mob mentality demands obedience to their chosen leaders.

Take the idea of a free market health care system, where you get to pick and choose the illness you most likely think you’ll get, and pay out of pocket for those you didn't include. Oh, and it would also be breaking our current laws without repealing the mandates and prices would supposedly fall dramatically.
CT: Republican lawmakers are working on a pair of bills that would allow insurance policies in Wisconsin to ignore state mandates requiring coverage for a broad variety of medical treatments and conditions, including autism, cochlear implants and mental health problems.
The freedom and liberty of paying for junk insurance policies with huge costly loopholes is a conservative small government wet dream, and for a state that has one of the highest insured rates in the country, it’s time to tear down that coverage.
One of the new GOP bills, dubbed "Health Choices and Opportunities" permits insurers to offer a menu of "a la carte" individual policies that does not include coverage required by state mandates, which currently affect more than a dozen different conditions and procedures, from mammograms, kidney disease, and breast reconstruction to contraceptives, child immunizations and diabetes. The other bill would permit out-of-state health insurers to sell plans here that do not comply with state mandates at all. 
Frightened yet? Blame “authors Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, and Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette … calls to Vukmir's and Nygren's offices seeking official comment have not been returned.” You might want to call them yourself to thank them for helping “lower your premiums” by not having to buy basic coverage. It gets more inhumane.
"I am appalled at the cruelty of this legislation," says Nissan Bar-Lev, the president of the Autism Society of Wisconsin, who knew nothing about the proposals until I called him.  
The bill’s "a la carte insurance policies," according to an analysis by the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau, creates a process in which consumers would receive a form with their applications listing the premium costs each mandate would add to their policies. They would also get information about the risks for not including various mandates. Customers could then pick and choose which policies they want.
The bill would turn everyone’s coverage into gambling bet, with devastated parents who might have gambled and lost, on their coverage choice for their child, and winners who guessed right. What kind of party would bankrupt and traumatize family members for life for having made the wrong decision?
The second bill would allow out-of-state health insurers to offer plans in Wisconsin that do not conform to the state's mandates. They would only need to comply with whatever health insurance mandates are required in their home states.
Robert Kraig of Citizen Action of Wisconsin said, "This legislation will hollow out the state's insurance policies and undo consumer protections and standards … What next? I guess we could make health insurance entirely affordable by making sure it doesn't cover anything." 

For more information about medical treatments and conditions currently covered by mandates under Wisconsin law, click here.

No comments:

Post a Comment