Monday, December 21, 2009

Winners and Losers in the Senate Health Care Bill

Here's a short list of winners and losers in the Senate version of ObamaCare/health care 'reform'.

Winners:
  • Nebraska - gets permanent federal funding for the Medicaid expansion, at the expense of the rest of the Union, a bribe for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
  • Vermont, Massachusetts and Hawaii - get partial, short-term federal funding for Medicaid expansion.
  • University of Connecticut - gets $100M for hospital construction, thanks to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).
  • Louisiana - $300M in increased federal Medicaid subsidies, in order to buy the vote of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).
  • Medicare providers (physicians and hospitals) in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah - will get paid more than other states under the reimbursement formula.
  • Medicare Advantage members in Florida - will get to keep their coverage, while the program gets deep cuts in the rest of the country.
Losers:
  • The American People - new taxes, worse health care, more government control... what's there to like?
  • The American taxpayer - 400 billion dollars in new taxes.
  • Unborn babies - abortions will still be paid for with taxpayer funds (particularly on Indian reservations).
  • Future generations - those who will have to pay for this in the future (which includes young Americans like myself).
  • Tanning salons - will get hit with a 10% tax (to replace a discussed-but-dropped tax on cosmetic surgery).
  • People making over $200,000 a year - Medicare payroll tax increased by 0.9%.
  • Insurance companies - must spend at least 85 cents per dollar on medical costs, leaving 15 cents for overhead, salaries, stock-holders, et cetera.
  • Generic drug makers - name-brand companies won 12 years of protection from their generic competitors.
  • State budgets - Medicaid expansions will be a budget-breaker, in a time when 49 of 50 states are facing budget shortfalls (some of them quite severe), and states like California are facing bankruptcy.
These are just some of the winners and losers. If you want to add some, leave a comment.

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