There were a number of articles about Obamacare on the Internet this week. Rather than do a separate article here for each one, I will try to highlight some of them so that you can decide which one you want to read. I apologize in advance for what may be a rather long article!
Politico reported this week that U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson allowed two major aspects of the lawsuit against Obamacare to proceed: the states' challenge to the requirement that all Americans must buy health insurance and the required expansion of the Medicaid program.
Judge Vinson criticized the Democrats for making an "Alice in Wonderland" argument to defend the law. If you remember, during the debates regarding the law, President Obama said that forcing the public to buy health insurance was not a tax--it was simply a mandate. The Justice Department is defending the law saying that it is a tax and Congress has the right to levy taxes.
The case will go to trial on December 16. The lawsuit, brought by 20 state attorneys general and governors, is expected to end up before the U. S. Supreme Court.
Reuters also posted an article on the Florida decision. The Reuters article states:
""This decision is a recognition that Congress has never gone this far and that the constitutional arguments have real merit," Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said.
"The challenge being heard by Vinson is one of many against the healthcare law. There is a hearing in Virginia Monday on the merits of a separate suit against the healthcare overhaul."
It will be interesting to watch the progress of this case.
Meanwhile, your tax dollars are at work. Ed Morrissey at Hot Air reports that the Department of Health and Human Services has launched a $3 million television ad campaign to discuss the benefits of Obamacare.
According to Hot Air:
"The Department of Health and Human Services insists that the ads are not political and that the spending is in line with what the agency has done in the past to advise seniors about the open enrollment period for Medicare Advantage and prescription drug coverage plans, which begins Nov. 15. But the ads discuss benefits specific to the Democrats' health care reform law, such as the closing of the prescription drug "doughnut hole," the 50 percent discount on drugs purchased in the coverage gap and the new coverage for an annual wellness visit, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services spokesman Tony Salters said."
The fact that these ads are running before the election rather than just before the open enrollment period has fueled the idea that the ads are political. Your tax money is at work!
Connecticut.com reports that the state has given Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield the go ahead to raise premiums by as much as 47 percent for some members, and says health care reform is the reason why. This is an amazing statement when you consider Kathleen Sebelius stated that she would not allow insurance companies to blame any rate increases on the new law. According to an article I did in September at rightwinggranny.com:
(In a letter to the insurance lobby,) "she warned that bad actors may be excluded from new health insurance markets that will open in 2014 under the law. They'd lose out on a big pool of customers, as many as 30 million people nationwide."
I wonder what she is going to do to a state that tells the truth!
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