Question: Who pays for your “free” stuff?

ObamaCare mandates (commands) health insurance companies to include preventive care at no cost to insured persons. Is that free care without cost? Does the Doc perform your exam without billing the insurance company? Does the lab complete your blood tests, PAP smears, EKG’s, etc. gratis? Does the Doc’s nurse, and tech assistant work for nothing?

That “free” service costs real dollars, and don’t expect your insurance company to just absorb it. Lean a little closer and I will whisper a secret to you: The cost of your “free” preventive care is built right into your monthly health insurance premium. What’s that you say?…You don’t pay a monthly  premium because your employer pays your whole premium. Do you remember when your last raise was much less than you had hoped…or when there was no raise at all, or no Christmas (is it still all right to say Christmas?) bonus? Well, Jack and Jill, you paid for it.

It works just like Social Security, where your employer pays half your Social Security deduction and you pay the other half. You get less salary because the boss has to send dollars that could have been in your pay-check to Uncle Sam.

So, if you think ObamaCare is going to reduce your health insurance premiums, I have a bridge in Arizona I’d like to sell to you.

How about that latest edict from on high in DC…now women get “Free” birth control and abortion services. Last time I looked, sexual intercourse was a lifestyle activity, not an illness. Birth control products take up entire aisles in most pharmacies, and “the pill” is readily available by prescription…so nobody is standing in the way of a little personal responsibility. Okay, the cost of that “free” service will also be added on by your health insurer.

Do you really believe these things are “Rights”? As a US citizen, you are born with certain rights…among them the rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Our Constitution guarantees those rights. The State does not bestowe rights on you. If it did, it could take them away just as easily. Committing a serious crime can cause you to lose a right…Liberty, and possibly Life.

Health care is not a right. If you believe it is, find that in the Constitution. If you are content with the current government take over of health care, banking, and automobile manufacture, hang on to your hat because you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

For example look at Venezuela and follow how Chavez set one part of the population against another part to gain votes based on jealousy and envy, turning a once proud republic into a basket case. Next step from Washington, D.C.is to take the stars from the blue field of the US flag and replace them with a hammer and sickle.

November 6, 2012 is coming. On that day, you get to make the call. Vote one way to keep a Republic that is the envy of the rest of the world, or vote to become Greece, Venezuela, or some other country full of “Free” stuff.

Carpe Deim

Another Obamacare “gotcha” surfaced this week. There is a provision therein that socks the pharmaceutical industry with an additional new tax, the proceeds of which are to be used to study the comparitive effectiveness of various prescription drugs in treating several illnesses. It appears the aim of that study is to discover one drug, out of several used to treat the same medical condition, which is most effective for the greatest number of patients. Well, SHAZAM, nobody in the medical community ever thought of that before Obamacare came along. Thank goodness for the big brains in Washington, D.C.

Of course Big Brother’s aim is to find one drug that best treats most patients, then dictate that it is the only one Doc’s can prescribe…and then squeeze the drug manufacturers by allowing them to manufacture only that drug for the given condition and accept whatever Big Brother will pay for it….However, you and I were not baked in the same oven and we were not shaped by the same cookie cutter…think, “different strokes for different folks.” One size fits all does not fly in the medical field. This latest little land mine fits right in there with Obamacare’s death panel. Look for some push back from the medical care professionals on this one.

By the way, did you receive your Holiday Thank You Card from PresBO? As the First Family’s little get away to Hawaii cost you and me $4,000,000.00 tax dollars, one would expect at least a small thank you.

How many of you have played ninety (90) rounds of golf in the last 36 months? PresBO has…good thing he has so little business to attend to…such as keeping his “laser like” attention on the economy and lack of jobs for Joe and Jill Sixpack, (the back-
bone of his Party, by the way).

Does it strike you as a little insensitive for your Pres to spend a bazillon dollars of your money on his Hawaii vacation while the rest of us are left back here to twist in the winds of a stagnant economy? Tacky, tacky, as we say down South. The evil George W. Bush, stuck around D.C. over the holidays because he wanted his Secret Service detail to have the opportunity to spend the holidays with their families. Then he left for a time after Christas…and usually went to Crawford, TX or to visit with family in the U.S.

Carpe Diem

Our House of Representatives (the House) and our Senate, with the President’s urging, today (12/23/11) passed a sixty (60) days extension of the 2.00% Social Security Withholding Tax reduction. Big Whoop!

For many moons we have been told that Social Security is fast running out of cash, and will leave surviving children, disabled workers and retirees to twist in the wind within the next twenty years or so. How does the President, the Senate and the House propose to deal with that stark fact? Well, of course…cut the amount of dollars going into your Social Security pool by billions of dollars every month. By the way one billion dollars looks like this: $1,000,000,000.00.

How to make up for the short fall? Why just add a tax to home sales at closing. With residential home sales on life support that really makes sense doesn’t it? Well, that is what has been proposed.

Stealing from a popular comic strip of many years ago, “We has discovered the enemy, and he is us.” We, you and I, keep sending people to the House and Senate who talk a good game until they land in D.C., but nothing seems to change…because just as soon as they get there, their primary object becomes getting re-elected…they start working for “The Party” and you and I get thrown under the bus. The old guard gains control because they hang on longest, and they control the levers of Congress, while the rest learn to, “go along to get along”.

A heartbeat away from the Presidency sits a complete doofus, a party hack from a tiny mid-Atlantic state the population of which would easily fit into a small county in Texas. Third in line for the Presidency is the Speaker of the House, who talked a great game until he had to defend the House’s alternate to the latest Senate fiasco, the two month extension of the Social Security tax reduction that has proved to be of zero value as a stimulant to our sagging economy. Harry Truman famously said, “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” After Thursday’s cave in, Speaker of the House Boehner should take President Truman’s advice and allow the House to elect a new Speaker with “True Grit”, or at least someone who can place the House Republicans’ premise before the public in a manner that can’t be demagogued by the White House or  his “friends” across the aisle.

Meanwhile, all you guys and gals who rejoice over your continuing 2%”tax cut”, just remember to keep your compaints to yourself when your Social Security benefits are less than expected on judgement day in the future. Then, you can blame Washington all you want, but just remember December 23,2011, and the big favor your president bestowed on you just before he split the scene for Hawaii and his $4,000,000.00 little Christmas get away…paid for by YOU, by the way.

Carpe Diem

Now is a good time to reflect on our plans for 2012. Did you bring a lot of worry into 2011? I’ll bet most of the things that caused you to worry turned out to be not so bad after all. Make a note to be upbeat about 2012.

Most of us are thinking of gifts for our family and friends right now, and if you really want to do something special for your spouse and/or children, give a thought to guaranteeing support for them if you depart this earth unexpectedly. Think life insurance.

What if an accident or illness makes it impossible for you to continue to earn an income? Think, disability income insurance.

A neat way to guarantee happiness during the holidays..or any other days…is to know that sure cash is there for you and your family. Proper use of insurance products will make that possible.

Think about it….

On 11/8/11, in the case brought by twentysix states,the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., voted two to one to uphold ObamaCare’s health insurance ownership mandate. Of interest, a Reagan appointee voted with the majority. That judge has obviously been in Washington too long…must be afraid he won’t be invited to the next cocktail party.

As this issue is now in the laps of the U. S. Supreme Court, another appeals court ruling seems superflous. I am willing to bet that every Supreme Court judge already has his/her mind made up as to the constitutionality of ObamaCare’s health insurance ownership mandate. Now we must wait for them to hear the arguments from both sides of that issue, then hand down their ruling.

The Court’s finding will mark a watershead moment in our nation’s history. If the Supremes deem ObamaCare’s mandate valid, that opens the door to more such mandates in the future, bearing on the kind of car you drive, the kind of food you put onto your tables, and any of hundreds of goods and services you purchase every day. Big Brother will, in deed,dictate your life from Washington, D.C. from then on.

On the other hand, if the Justices rule in favor of the twenty-six states, ObamaCare will be dealt a severe blow.

The finding of the D.C. Court of Appeals fails to include much referrence to the Constitution, instead reciting past prescedents from prior Supreme Courts in their interpretations of the Commerce Clause. Note the word interpretation. Judges too often read their own predjudices into their intrepretations of very clear meanings expressed in our Constitution. In this case the leading judge says, in effect, for the greater good of all everybody must buy a certain product…a health insurance policy.

If some of us were barred from receiving health care because we had not the money to pay for it, how does being forced to buy health insurance solve that problem? A. If you had the money to buy health insurance, you probably have some money to pay your doctor bills. B. If you don’t have the money for either, Medicaid…a long standing state/federal healthcare program.. is there to take care of you….And, no hospital emergency room will turn you away because you can’t pay…been that way for years.

Listen, our issue with healthcare has never been lack of medical resources, or access to doctors and hosptals. Our issue has been the ever soaring cost of healthcare. There are dozens of ways to bring efficiencies into healthcare delivery, and just as many ways to bring market forces into play to bring down the cost of services, not to mention reining in lawyers and thousands of regulations that add to such
costs.

ObamaCare’s approach is to place caps on professional fees and limit services. Do you want your brain surgery to be performed by the lowest bidder?

The best way to attack our healthcare delivery issues is to let the market work. Free men and women in free markets find the best way to deliver products and services at prices people can afford to pay, otherwise they must go out of business. Allowing your life to be dictated from Washington, D.C. is not what Americans are all about. This “Change You Can Believe In” is leading you down a path to serfdom.

Bad news for you if you are a parent with little pre-school kids or a couple living on 120% of your joint income. Chances are strong that your spouse or significant other plans to throw you under the bus if said spouse suddenly assumes room temperature one day next week.

You know, the death rate never changes. It is and always has been, one per person. Accidents and unexpected illness continue to claim unexpecting members of our families every day. Question number one is usually, “How did it happen?”. Number two is, “When is the funeral?” Number three is, “Did he/she own any life insurance?”

Obligaion, character and personal responsibility are ever waning concepts in our 21st century lives, and I am sure that plays into the falling off of life insurance ownership in our American culture. Maybe we are just too focused on ourselves these days. Informed self interest certainly has its place in one’s success in life, but what happens to your life’s partner your kids or your creditors after you get terminally t-boned at that bad intersection six blocks from home at 7:38 AM tomorrow morning on your way to work?

You are gone. You ain’t never coming back. As the Romans said: Life is short. Death is long. What does go on is bills, bills, bills. Whip out your check book. Look back at the past several months. Which of your family’s bills will go away now that you have departed the building?…not many…Do you suppose it would be in order for you to set aside some cash to cover those bills for at least a couple years while what’s left of your family recovers from your loss? You can do that with life insurance at pennies on the dollar.

Listen, many years ago when I was a newbie life insurance agent I met with Tom, a husband and father of two pre-K kids, Kirk and Holly…still remember their names. He was a construction foreman working with cranes and other heavy equipment and his employer did not provide any group health or life insurance. I had presented a life insurance idea to him which would have paid off his mortgage and provided enough cash which, when added to Kirk and Holly’s Social Security survivors’ benefits, would have allowed his wife to stay at home to raise their kids until they were well along in grammar school. Monthly premiums for that life insurance amounted to 1.00% of his take home pay. It was a Friday and Tom decided to put off his decision to apply until after the weekend.

The following Monday an early November northeaster blew in. (Remember, I am located in northeast Florida only a few miles from the Atlantic.) On the evening news that day was a story about a crane working close to some high voltage electric lines paralleling the CSX Railroad tracks on Jacksonville’s west side. The crane’s boom was erect and with its cable extended, weight and hook laying on the ground. A gust of wind blew the boom into the power lines and their high voltage surged through the extended cable to the damp ground below only feet from a construction foreman, killing him instantly. Yes, it was Tom.

As that bad news was sinking in, my phone rang. It was Tom’s wife wanting to know if Tom had completed his life insurance application during our previous Friday meeting. (If you apply for life insurance, pay its first assumed premium and meet the insurer’s underwriting requirements, underwriting will continue even if you should die before the policy would have been issued.)I had to tell her no…no application…no life insurance. That night was a sleepless one for me.

Several years later I called on a local beverage distributor to present a group health insurance plan for its consideration. As I presented my card to the receptionist in the rather dark and dingy outer office, she looked up and said,”You don’t remember me do you?” She was right, I didn’t. It was obvious she had once been a very attractive woman, but now was drawn, had a sallow complexion with a hint of bruising around her left eye. Then it hit me…Before me was Tom’s widow!

I then confessed to not recognizing her at first, and asked how Kirk and Holly were doing. She said they were “okay”…then suddenly tears began to well up up in her eyes and years of repressed frustration flowed from within her…she had struggled to pay her’s and Tom’s mortgage, but could not keep up, sold the house at a loss, moved into a rented doublewide in a run down part of town, took Kirk and Holly out of their familiar school and away from their friends to put them into another lower rated school near her place…in desperation married a guy who punches her when he drinks…and he drinks a lot…but he pays part of the rent. Now he is in jail and she is unsure of her’s, Kirk’s and Holly’s future, as her job doesn’t pay much…and, “God! How much different things could have been if only Tom had left her even a few life insurance dollars!”

At that point, my appointment guy appeared and ushered me back to his office.

It was after 6:00 PM and Tom’s wife was not at her desk as I left. Since that day, I have not seen her again…but every time a prospective life insurance buyer attempts to put me off, I make sure that he or she knows the peril that accompanies procrastination.

Don’t be Tom.

Another ObamaCare element appears dead on arrival, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, the “Class Act”, has shown to be another unaffordable provision of the federal government’s intrusion into yours and my health care decisions.

Although not having been rescinded by congressional action, CLASS appears now to have been kicked to the curb by the Administration.(Unless Congress kills it, CLASS can always re-emerge…just as the other-worldly villain in the Alien movies.)

CLASS was to have you and me sign up to pay the U.S. Government several hundred dollars, each month for five (5) years, into a fund to be used to provide Long Term Care benefits to those of us meeting certain claim requirements…primarily our not being able to perform certain activities of daily living (ADL’s), such as freely moving about, using a toilet, feeding ourselves, etc…and to provide for those with dementia…on the surface a laudable idea, but filled with devils in the details.

Devilish detail: CLASS could not tell you today with certainty what your monthly benefits amount would be at time of claim after you sign up and pay into the fund for five (5) years. Instead, your dollars would be pooled and the Washington crowd would figure out your benefit amount later. Proposed minimum daily benefit would have been $50.00.

Remember another Federal program wherein you pay into a “pool” of funds each payday, then the government tells you what you get back starting somewhere in your sixties? Can you spell S-O-C-I-A-L S-E-C-U-R-I-T-Y? What happened to that pool of cash?

Starting in The late ’60′s the Johnson (LBJ) administration waded into that pool to suck out cash for some of his pet projects, leaving OIU’s to cover the debt…and each administration since has followed LBJ’s lead, so that today your Social Security pool is a dry lake bed covered with OIU’s…OIU’s that the U.S. (US!) must borrow from China and others to cover. If you ever used a cash advance from one credit card to pay an installment on another credit card, you understand what we, as a nation, are doing to cover our Social Security debt, and a whole lot more.

One of ObamaCare’s selling points was that it would provide access to health care for all while saving costs all around. Hello? It’s a Federal Government Program! Government programs ALWAYS cost More than projected. Only one, Part D of Medicare, has been the exception, and that is because it relies on private sector health insurance companies and individual choice to work.

But ObamaCare’s authors knew all that, and they were willing to do anything necessary to sell their project. One ploy was to start collecting additional taxes immediately to cover costs that would not begin in earnest until 2014 and later. CLASS fits that template: collect billions from the tax payers over five years leading up to 2014 and put it into their Long Term Care pool of cash. Meanwhile,tap into the pool for other ObamaCare uses and leave more IOU paper to cover the debt. Voila! Cash freed up, and debt paper left for the next administration.

Oh, and what happens to your CLASS monthly contributions if you retain your health and never become a claim? As I told you earlier, it’s a Government Program…they win…you lose.

As with ObamaCare’s mandate for immediate health insurance coverage for all regardless of health history starting in 2014, CLASS Act is open to any and all. Guess who will jump into the CLASS Act boat? You are correct, those who are aged or at risk will join while those not at risk will stay away. But wait. That model will not generate enough dollars to pay claims over the long run. In a few words, it is actuarially unsound, and that is just what the Government’s number crunchers verified recently.

For CLASS Act to survive Washington would have to force all of us to pay into the CLASS Act “pool”. Having learned from attempting to force everyone to buy health insurance, the tax and spend crowd will just slide CLASS into the Social Security system, then increase your Social Security/Medicare Taxes to cover CLASS obligations.
Don’t think that will never happen. Just keep sending Socialists to Washington to guarantee that it will happen.

As of now the CLASS Act witch is dead…killed off by simple math, which the politicians can’t slant.

Carpe Diem

New for 2012…Medicare Annual Election Period starts October 15, 2011, running through December 7,2011….a change from prior years. During that window of opportunity, qualified Medicare Beneficiaries can enroll in Medicare Advantage Plans to be effective on January 1, 2012. Those already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan can disenroll from or change to a different Medicare Advantage plan during that period.

Those enrolled in a Medicare Prescription Plan (PDP) may do likewise.

Those disenrolling from a Medicare Advantage Plan containing Prescription Drug Benefit coverage can return to Original Medicare and buy a separate Medicare Prescription Drug (PDP) plan, during that time period.

Discuss your Medicare insurance options with a qualified health insurance broker or agent. Make sure you understand your proposed new insurance before signing the application. Ask questions! There are no dumb questions…only dumb answers. Make sure the agent or broker you are talking to has the proper licenses and certifications required by your state insurance department and Medicare.

Always remember…THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH! Some Medicare Advantage plans do not require that you pay a monthly premium…but you Will be required to pay annual deductibles, co-payments or co-insurance amounts when you obtain health insurance services under your Medicare Advantage Plan.

If you elect to remain under, or return to, Original Medicare, and obtain Medicare Supplement Insurance and/or separate Medicare Prescription Drug insurance, you will pay a monthly premium for those…but, depending upon the Medicare Supplement plan selected, you may avoid additional out-of-pocket costs for most non-Rx Medicare Approved medical expenses.

Your separate Medicare Prescription Drug policy may or may not contain an annual deductible. Your prescription drugs will require co-payments from you, and you may encounter other out of pocket costs as detailed in Medicare Prescription Drug legislation.

Finding one’s way through the Medicare maze is daunting, and that is why it is important to you to discuss your situation with a qualified agent or broker. The right health insurance broker for you will have several Medicare plan resources for you to consider rather than just one insurance company to present.

If you are a Florida resident, contact me for more information on this subject. (ksmith6288@aol.com)

Here are a few websites you may use to obtain more information about Medicare:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): http://www.cms.gov/

U.S. Gov’t. Site for People with Medicare: http://www.medicare.gov/

Medicare and You 2011: http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/10050.pdf

Carpe Diem

If you have been following the ObamaCare saga through its court hearings and federal appeals courts decisions, you know that the suit brought by twentysix (26) states is finally on track for a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.

As the states can’t simply present a challenge to ObamaCare saying ,”It just ain’t right, judge”, they must present arguments against specific provisions of the law. In this case the twentysix states argue that requiring you and me to purchase a product, in this instance health insurance, or face cash penalties for failing to do so, is unconstitutional. The Administration in Washington, D.C. contends that the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause [Article 1, Section 8] does provide for imposing the requirement to purchase such.

Okay, what would be next?…that all of us must buy a Smart Car manufactured by GM?…that wearing high heels are bad for you, so you must buy only flats from now on?

Keeping in mind that the Washington crowd has hidden behind the Commerce Clause as an excuse for chipping away at our rights and freedoms for many years, anything can happen when ObamaCare lands in front of the Supremes. Those ladies and gentlemen are charged with interpreting the Constitution, as written, as it applies to laws passed by both houses of congress and signed by the president.

You can bet that when the Court votes, it will not be unanimous. Recall that in a 1942 decision the Court declared that, under the Commerce Clause, the federal government had the right to fine a wheat farmer for growing grain to feed his own family…an act which had zero effect on interstate commerce. (Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 [1942])

Supreme Court Justices are there for life, and once in place some look past the U.S. Constiutution as the basis for their decisions. Take fifteen minutes to read through our Constitution…our by-laws. That document was written in clear language. Changes to it require vetting and agreement by the states.

Over the years Supreme Court judges have read meanings into the Constitution that simply are not there!

Why the debate over the Second Amendment? It says this: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Looks clear to me. How about you?

The First Amendment says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Congress is thus prohibited from establishing a “Church of the United States”…as the founders saw the “Church of England” as not to be copied in the U.S. (Read your history.)At the same time, freedom of religion is guaranteed…so where does “separation of church and state” come from?

Bear in mind that our Constitution does not bestow Rights! It protects rights you were born with. It is a wonderful document and let’s hope our present Supreme Court sticks to it.

Stay tuned in…Our Supreme Court’s decision on ObamaCare’s constitutionality could mark a paradign shift in our history.

First, I want to thank all of you who have taken time to respond to my blogs and to comment on my website. Several hundred of you are sending your comments every week and that is very humbling. I appriciate your support and, sometimes, constructive suggestions about improvement.

When time allows, I respond to your questions. One question many of you have asked is, who designed and manages my website? Here is the web address: www.elykinnovation.com. Those folk are headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, (904)-998-1935, X11.

Others ask permission to quote or otherwise use content from my blogs. My answer is yes…but please attribute back to me…AND, my blogs are personal observations, so do your fact checking before publishing anything.

A few have observed that they have seen my blog content exactly reproduced in others’ blog sites. Let me say that my blogs are MY BLOGS. Plagiarists are lazy and dwell among vandals, and other lowlife. Those who attempt to steal my words also cheat at golf and pass gas in crowded elevators.

What do I do when I’m not creating gems of wisdom on this website? I am entering my 50th year as an independent life and health insurance broker. People choosing to place their trust in me are able to put those fifty years of experience to work for them. I help them leverage premium dollars into thousands of dollars in income tax free benefits…wherein the event that creates the need creates the cash.

Our US economy is bumping along the bottom of a rut which seems to deepen every month. The ancient Chinese coined a saying that goes something like this:”Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” Rather than curse the economy, you and I can “light a candle” which will give our economy a boost. It won’t make a wave, but it will make a ripple…just like the bystanders who jumped in to rescue the motorcyclist trapped under the burning car this week…one alone made little difference, but when six or eight more jumped in to help they created their own miracle.

Here’s the deal: September 24th is my birthday…(So What?). I ask each of you to spend an EXTRA five (5) dollars on that day with a local small business, mom & pop store, the lawn service guy, the deli down the street…you get the idea. If this idea goes viral maybe ten million of us will invest a five spot in our community…creating a $50,000,000
bump in our economy. But wait, it gets better. Let’s assume those extra fivers generate a multiplier effect (look it up) of four (4). Suddenly, your five dollar purchase expands into $200,000,000. Effectively, you have helped “Grow” the economy by Two Hundred Million Dollars. On 9/24/11, let’s do it!

Carpe Diem