Sunday, August 5, 2012

Obomneycare: prepare to watch the next shoe drop here in Ohio

There has been no shortage of doomsday memes targeting the so-called Affordable Care Act since President Barack Obama and his koolaid-drinking worshipers (er, rather, his fellow Democrats in Congress while they held the majority in both houses of it) began promoting it in 2009.

If you’re a regular at Politifact, then you can be reassured they’re all patently false. Certainly, Politifact is entirely free of any bias or agenda; you can trust them, of course.

Well, getting ready to join the dot-com bubble, housing bubble, and banking bubble in bursting is the left-wing fairytale bubble.

We were all reassured via teleprompter talking points, “If you like your present insurance plan, and you’re happy with it, you’ll be able keep it.”

That sounded so wonderful so long as you utterly ignored economic and market histories and the reality they tend to predict with annoying accuracy.

My fellow Buckeyes, reality is trying shake us all out of a slumber-like haze.

Days ago, I was informed during this particular shift that at a recent roundtable session between production associates and management, one of our co-workers asked a straight-up question regarding benefits down the road. When Obomneycare [my reinterpretation of the actual term used] goes into full-swing, what will happen to their insurance coverage?

What this individual received was an equally straight-up, eye-contact answer.

When the provisions of Obomneycare are fully implemented, Honda of America Manufacturing will drop its employer-based health insurance plan and simply pay the IRS penalties – as that will be less expensive than providing a coverage plan under the forthcoming health care regime.

This news got others at the area of discussion wondering out loud what their choices will be. That will be simple: they either can sift through the sea of federal laws and regulations in order to pursue their own health insurance or be moved into the government implemented insurance exchange.

As the prospect of the second option quickly sank-in, I heard people who have been employed with Honda for the better part of 20 years ask a very pointed question. What even is the point of working like we do if everything we need can be had through public assistance?

Here we have two seminal exigencies that beg examination.

First, what will the overall economic impact be here in Ohio (not to mention nationwide) when one of the three largest job providers in this state has every intention of canceling insurance benefits?

If an employer the size of Honda of America Manufacturing, which keeps thousands of residents working, will no longer carry job-based insurance there can be no way to predict how long will a prominent portion of one-sixth of our economy even remain in existence.

That is, unless your prediction is that sooner – rather than later – it won’t.

Second, I watched regular, salt-of-the-Earth people unknowingly discuss what latter-day philosophers such as Alexis du Tocqueville and Frederic Bastiat have predicted as the inevitable consequence which results from making more and more components of life a matter of public distribution.

When one hears hard-working, blue-collar folks question the very purpose of staying employed and being productive contributors to society – people who are at a point in life when they have been working for the majority of it – what impact will that have on future generations who will seek everyday examples to guide their own choices?

The alarm clock of reality is ringing, everyone. Please stop hitting the snooze button.

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