Obamacare seems inexplicable as a reform (meaning: improvement) of our health care system. The ongoing saga of the Little Sisters of the Poor clarifies the inexplicable. This case confirms what Obamacare detractors have been saying for quite a while. President Obama’s intent had nothing to do with facilitating health care for Americans. It was all about control.
Mother Loraine Marie Maguire, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, speaks to the media after aruments at the US Supreme Court, March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
First Amendment Right to Religious Freedom?
The Mother Provincial for the Little Sisters of the Poor, Sr. Loraine Marie Maguire, wrote in “Little Sisters of the Poor Say ‘Yes” to the Court” how she tried to settle the suit against the federal government, currently at the Supreme Court, but to no avail. The Little Sisters believe that the Obamacare mandate to provide contraceptives and abortifacients constrains their First Amendment right to religious freedom. Apparently, during oral arguments, the justices asked both sides if there were ways to solve the dilemma without violating the Sisters' faith or forcing a decision from them.
The Little Sisters said yes and showed several ways to resolve their differences. The Obama administration conceded that alternatives already did exist and that cost was not a factor. Nonetheless, Washington demurred.
How can one explain their refusal?
It's Not About Health Care Or Religious Freedom
The answer is simple. The government’s disagreement with the Little Sisters - as well as the entire Obamacare law - has nothing to do with good health for the American people. Furthermore, Obamacare has nothing to do with the fiscal welfare of our country. Obamacare is solely a means of extending the scope, expanding the reach, and amplifying the power of the federal government. It is the progressive political agenda made manifest using health care as a vehicle.
There is no other way to explain spending more than $2 billion (!) on a website: healthcare.gov. For that money, we could give Sovaldi, which costs $1,000/pill, to every patient with Hepatitis C in the entire United States and cure them.
How does Washington justify Obamacare spending $2.6 trillion “health care” dollars on failed Co-Ops, unnecessary Exchanges, cancelled CLASS Act and PCIP, useless risk corridors, more than 1400 exemptions, “free” Medicaid insurance that does not lead to good care, insurance carriers leaving the market, consulting fees to contemptible and contemptuous Jonathan Gruber et al, as well as legal fees to defend this most unpopular of all social welfare programs. Does rationing our medical care through Obamacare’s IPAB produce healthier Americans?
It's All About Control
The purpose of these all actions becomes clear when you recognize the true but covert purpose behind Obama’s so-called reform of the American healthcare system. It was all about control: he cared not one whit about We the Patients.
As a physician, I am furious with Washington when I think how much health care American doctors cannot provide Americans when healthcare dollars are diverted from care to expand Obama’s bureaucratic control. When people rail (rightly) at how much our country is overspending on our healthcare system, ask them to look at where our “health care” dollars are going - not to patients or to doctors!
Pre-election Postscript
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is quite overt with regard to his health care policy, MediCAID-for-All, which he disingenuously calls Medicare-for-All. He wants total government control of healthcare using the Single Payer model.
“Dr. Deane” Waldman MD MBA is the author of the FREE Healthcare Decoder; The Cancer in the American Healthcare System; and just released, Our Allies Have Become Our Enemies. Dr. Deane is host of www.wecanfixhealthcare.info; Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Pathology and Decision Science; and Adjunct Scholar (Healthcare) for the Rio Grande Foundation, a public policy think tank. Dr. Deane serves as “Consumer Advocate” Director on the Board of the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange. Opinions expressed here are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Board.
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