My Junior Senator, Ted Cruz (Czy.Tex.), has been on a tear recently exposing the HCA as dooooom for America. The job killing, put-down granmas, seductively addictive, health care program that is tearing at everything that we hold dear and close -- like freedom and liberty and stuff. But how is this playing out in Sen Cruz's home newspapers?
Please follow me below the Halloween Slogan to see a bit of local response to the subject of Teddy's tear.
Health Insurance, like any other product, is usually measured by the consumer on a familiar cost/benefit analysis. How much will it cost me (monthly premiums), compared with what will I get for my buck (co-pays, deductibles, caps, etc).
The second part of the equation is of course critically important in protecting beneficiaries. The HCA provides for preventive care free of co-pays and deductibles. It also requires automatic enrollment regardless of health history, requires that premiums be based only on age and not on health history, prevents carriers from refusing to pay after you file a claim, and eliminates caps, which would otherwise allow carriers to leave you naked after paying out a maximum amount in case of a catastrophic loss, to name but a few of the added protections to health insurance coverage mandated by the ACA.
But what is most clear to the public, and what they most easily look at, is premiums. How much will I pay on a monthly basis to be covered? This is what my, and my junior senator's home paper, had to say about Obamacare costs today in a front page article headlined: Affordable Health Care Act -- Low Premiums.
Along with informing local residents of the opening of the insurance marketplace on October 1st, and how to gather information on the rollout by accessing HealthCare.org or cuidadodesalud.org, the Laredo Morning Times prominently noted above the fold on the front page that:
Health care premiums under the new Health Insurance Marketplace will be significantly lower for residents of South Texas according to a report released Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Now this is what will guarantee the success of Obamacare -- lower prices. This is what will quickly attract the public's favorable attention -- that it's cheaper!
Texans will have the option from about 54 health plans...A family of four in the McAllen-Edingburg-Pharr-Mission metro complexes with an income of $50,000 would pay $117 a month for the bronze plan, and a 27 year old person who makes $25,000 a year $99 a year for a bronze plan, after tax credits.
Our local rep, who has not failed to notice the eventual and potent popularity of the law, was quoted by the Times as saying:
"No longer will fear of an accident, potential for illness, or even the desire to receive basic preventive care threaten to derail the financial security of millions of Texas families", US Rep Henry Cuellar said in a statement Wednesday.
As most of us very well know, Democrats in Congress, even Blue Dogs like Cuellar, well learned some time ago to own Obamacare. Even more so as to Cuellar, because,
According to the Texas Medical Association, Texas ranks first in the nation in uninsured citizens. (Henry Cuellar's) Laredo fares worse, with 36 percent of residents uninsured.
I see that the Fat Lady is starting to warm up her vocal cords. With headlines screaming ACA and LOW PREMIUMS, as was broadcast in the South Texas brush country today, Punkin' Cruz and his greedy band of malcontents have nary a chance in the world to win the day on this issue. It's just a matter of keepin' on broadcasting.